PurpleLuva01's Tidal Wave
by Purpleluva01
Summary: Life can be as unpredictable as the sea, with storms and typhoons waiting around each tide, rocks and reefs coming as brittle as needles or as harmless as the stranger next to you; never knowing whether or not you'll be able to just sail with the current or sink under the next tidal wave . . . AU fic; TuffXCassie, RileyXAlice
1. The Clashing of Waves: Prologue

**_Reptilian-Angel's_**

**_Tidal Wave_**

**_By_**

**_Reptilian-Angel_**

* * *

**ME: Life can be as unpredictable as the sea, with storms and typhoons waiting around each tide, rocks and reefs coming as brittle as needles or as harmless as the stranger next to you; never knowing whether or not you'll be able to just sail with the current or sink under the next tidal wave . . .**

* * *

**_Chapter 1._**

**_The_**

**_Clashing_**

**_Of_**

**_Waves;_**

**_Prologue_**

**Normal P.O.V.**

_"__B-B-B-Be careful making wishes in the dark, dark  
Can't be sure when they've hit their mark  
And besides in the mean, mean time  
I'm just dreaming of tearing you apart_

_I'm in the de-details with the devil_  
_So now the world can never get me on my level_  
_I just gotta get you off the cage_  
_I'm a young lover's rage_  
_Gonna need a spark to ignite_

_My songs know what you did in the dark_

_So light 'em up, up, up_  
_Light 'em up, up, up_  
_Light 'em up, up, up_  
_I'm on fire!_

_So light 'em up, up, up_  
_Light 'em up, up, up_  
_Light 'em up, up, up_  
_I'm on fire!_

_Oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa_  
_In the dark, dark;_  
_Oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa_  
_In the dark, dark . . ."_

_"__My Songs Know What You did In the Dark (Light 'em Up)" – Fall Out Boy_

**~X~**

Her feet stung from the force of her steps as she rushed to get away. Her legs were begging for her to stop, but she couldn't; not with her life on the line.

Her heart beat from inside of her ribcage with a fury of fear, her breath coming out in harsh pants and gasps of terror with sweat trekking down her forehead and neck. She forced the ragged feelings of over-exertion that threatened to take over her back. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder, a fatal mistake that caused her to trip over a loose tree root, fall hard on her stomach and chest, effectively knocking the air right out of her but not before she let out a grunt of surprise and pain.

The footfalls of her pursuers started to grow louder and quicker, no doubt they had heard her fall and were coming in for the kill. Her heart leapt dangerously in her throat as her pulse went wild with terror.

Adrenaline fueling her, she scrambled madly to her feet, somehow just barely missing stepping on her own tail and launched herself deeper into the dark, crowded woods that surrounded her.

How was this happening?

How did this nightmare even come to pass?

This wasn't supposed to happen.

She should've just had come on land for a while, scouted for some food for her and her friend and returned to the rendezvous point.

So, how in the Maker's name was this happening?

A sudden snarl sounded behind her. She turned just in time to dodge out of the way as a two rows of large, yellow teeth jumped at her and ended up meeting with a low branch just inches over her head. She let out a shriek at the sound of powerful teeth ripping out wood but didn't let up in her pace; her body was growing weaker with each slapping footstep, regardless, she continued to push herself forward.

She had to keep going. She had to get out. She had to get back to the ocean. She had to –

The distant sound of waves crashing onto shore and the faint smell of sea salt and water then graced her hearing and smell. For the first time since this horrific chase started, her heart leapt in hope.

The beach. She was getting close to the beach. If she could make it into the waves she would be safe.

Confidence then switched her body to overdrive, she felt herself be filled with newfound energy; the pain in her legs and feet lessened greatly and the sounds of teeth snapping at her heels and loud, hungry barks stabbing into her back began to die down. She felt newfound strength empowering her, allowing her to race across all loose tree knots, random foxholes and leap over any small creeks and rivers like a marathon champion.

She was close. She could see open space leaking sunlight from the edge of the forest. Once she broke through, she would be safe.

She let out a gasp of joy as she practically flew through the brush of trees and into the open air.

She made it through. Everything was going to be okay –

Her happiness came to a screeching halt. Her mind barely registered her body to stop in time before she did so a split second later. Her heart dropped and her blood ran cold at the sight before her.

The sea was definitely before her. To be more specific, it was below her. _Way_ below. At least thirty feet below the small cliff that stood out ominously before her. She could hear the waves and smell the salty air much more clearly now, but it did nothing to comfort her.

If anything, it only amplified her fear.

Her mind drew a blank. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to look over the edge because there was no telling what awaited her below. Provided if she did jump and survive. A horrid shudder ripped through her.

She didn't know what to do, she was trapped.

A horribly familiar growl greeted her from behind. Her heart skipped at least ten beats and it became harder for her to breath.

She whirled around to face her hunter –

**_RRGUAGH!_**

_RIPPP!_

"_AAUUGGHH!_"

Her side erupted in a freakish blossom of pain and cold; something big, rough and sharp dug deeply into it and refused to let go. She batted at the creature that caused this pain desperately but it refused to budge.

When she felt a course of electricity rush through her body and into her tail, allowing it to explode and strike at the creature, the creature then did let go with something between a snarl and yelp.

Something hot and sticky spurted out her; she instantly pressed her hands to it in a pathetic attempt to stop it. She didn't need to be a super genius to figure out what it was. Blood. The very life source of her being was leaking out of her in heavy spurts. No matter how hard she pressed, she couldn't stop it. She already felt her body growing tired and weak and cold . . . Her vision was starting to grow dotty . . .

She barely even registered the scream of horror as her own when her foot stepped back and met nothing but air.

The grunts and growls of the creature faded into nothing as she began to fall. The wind whistled and howled around her ears and whipped her short hair around her head almost painfully; not that she noticed it.

So this was how it was going to end.

She was going to fall to her death with a bleeding side and sink deep in the ocean. Her own world was going to be her grave.

She barely registered the three things that flew out of her mind before everything went black.

_Vince . . ._

_Somebody . . ._

_Help . . ._

* * *

**ME: OMG, OH NO! GIRL I THINK WE ALL KNOW, PLEASE! WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GO INTO THE LIGHT! DX **

**Okay, drama aside, I'm so happy I finally got this AU story started; this story has been itchin' at a rather good portion of my mind for months ever since I've seen fan art of Tuff and Cassie done by the fabulous "Doodlebotbop" over on deviantart. Her work is amazing and beautiful and you will love it and the story that falls behind it! I guarantee it!**

**This chapter literally took me all day to write and I'm really happy with how it turned out! I will pray for swift updates and good reviews!**

**And for the record, I owe none of the characters mentioned, and when certain characters are mentioned, I'll trust that you'll know who they are! Also, I'm gonna make a habit of mentioning song lyrics in this fic but I, and I'm only saying this once; I DO NOT OWE ANY OF THEM!**

**Anyways, that's enough of my rambling, so please read and enjoy!**


	2. The Clashing of Waves: Act I, Part I

**_Chapter 2._**

**_The_**

**_Clashing_**

**_Of_**

**_Waves;_**

**_Act I,_**

**_Part I_**

* * *

_"__How can you see into my eyes like open doors?  
Leading you down into my core  
Where I've become so numb . . ._

_Without a soul_  
_My spirit sleeping somewhere cold;_  
_Until you find it there and lead it back home . . ._

_Wake me up inside,  
Wake me up inside,  
Call my name and save me from the dark!_

_Bid my blood to run,  
Before I come undone,  
Save me from the nothing I've become . . ._

_"__Bring me to Life" by Evanescence _

**~X~**

Riley Luck was bored. Royally bored. Royally bored _and_ hungry. And that was _never_ a good combination. He gave a low groan and turned in his seat. "Tuff, are you sure you don't feel a bite on the line?"

Tuff Luck, his identical twin/older-by-five-_frikin'_-minutes-brother, gave him an annoyed sideways glance. "Riley, for the _millionth_ time, _no_! Fishing takes a great deal of patience and time; especially if you're part shark and the fish could smell that from a mile away, just give me some time."

Riley couldn't help giving him a deadpan glare. "Tuff! We've been out here ever since _ten_ _o'clock_ this _morning_!" He swung his arms out in gesture towards the small cove that their small, rickety boat was currently afloat in. "It's now, like, what, _two _in the _afternoon_?! I'm so hungry; I think my stomach's about to _eat_ my stomach!"

Tuff rolled his eyes at him. "That's a physical impossibility, Riley, even in our case."

Riley crossed his arms somewhat indignantly. "That's not the point. Anyways, why don't we just dive in and grab some fish! We can get food a lot quicker than just fishing with a silly stick."

"You would lose a _lot_ of money on that bet." Tuff adjusted the fishing pole in his hands placidly. "You'll scare more fish than you'll actually catch and then we'll _never_ get anything to eat."

"Rub it in, why don'tcha?" Riley pouted somewhat. Fed up with sitting, he scooted in the far side of his bench, making the boat rock for a moment and earning an annoyed glance from Tuff, lay himself down his back and propped one of his feet on the side of the boat and his arms behind his head in an effort to relax. "_Ahh_, whatever, just, _erf_, let me know you actually _do_ catch something and can't pull it out on your own . . ." He sighed.

Tuff rolled his eyes at his brother yet again and simply returned his attention back to his line. Surely something would bite the line soon. He gave a silent chuckle. Maybe when he did catch something, it would jump out of the water and smack Riley full in the face.

Tuff's face fell. Then again, Riley would actually enjoy that; going as far as catching the fish with his bare teeth and eating raw, never minding the fact he could catch food poisoning or even salmonella. Then he would have to undergo the rather arduous task of finding and catching food for him _and_ his sick twin brother.

Tuff grimaced. The last time that had happened, it had not been a pleasant memory. He loved his brother and all, but even identical twins have to have their limits. Anyone who said otherwise was probably selling something.

He sighed. To think, all this could've been avoided if Riley could just learn to control his hormones. Of course, the task itself was as impossible as wanting to light fire in the deepest of water. Simply ridiculous.

Like any sane person, they had voted to go a restaurant. They had the money for it and it was a wonderful change of pace from the "living-off-the-land" routine that they've been forced to endure for past three weeks. And everything was going spectacularly . . . Until the rather uncomfortably voluptuous blonde waitress came over to take their order.

As Tuff predicted, each and _every_ time that an attractive woman wandered into the picture, Riley immediately started to hit on her with a large toothy grin and sappy pick-up lines. The waitress was eager to respond to his advances, batting her eyelashes and smiling flirtingly and the like, much to Tuff's chagrin. He tried to blissfully ignore it as he looked over the menu's contents.

He had been ready to order the special of the day when the waitress's _large_, _extremely _well-built, **_very_** short-tempered boyfriend then cast a shadow over his shoulder.

Needless to say, they weren't able to get lunch.

So here they were, floating in a boat on the cove that was in a comfortably far distance from town, waiting haplessly for something that was dim enough to bite on his line. Obviously, nothing so far had come up.

. . .. . Maybe it wasn't too late to actually consider Riley's plan.

"Whoa, Tuff!" Riley sounded surprised. "What'd you do? Catch an octopus again?"

Tuff instantly felt his face drop in horror. He only took one look at the water, the second he caught sight of something clouding the water's surface, before dropping the fishing pole like it was on fire and scuttling madly to the opposite side of it. "Oh dear god, I hope not."

Riley rolled his eyes at his brother's paranoid expression. "Oh, calm down, it's probably dead by now, judging by all this ink." To emphasize his point, he leaned over and stuck his hand in the water to gather some of it in his hand.

"That's what you said last time before it _attacked_ me!" Tuff glowered at him.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that –" Riley started but stopped when he brought his hand back. His hand was now coated in blue liquid but something about it felt . . . _Off_. "Hey, hey, wait a minute . . ." He mumbled.

Tuff heard him and asked, "Riley, what's wrong?"

"I don't know." Riley frowned. Rubbing his thumb across his fingers and palm, he furrowed his eyebrows at the texture his pad felt under his touch. ". . . This ink is kinda weird. It's not cold at all; it's actually kind of warm and . . . its color way lighter than usual, instead of black, it's like navy blue and . . . And . . ." He brought the hand up to his nose, taking a tentative sniff.

An iron, coppery smell filled his nostrils. His sharky instinct suddenly sprung out at him; demanding him to delve deeper into the smell, to _taste_ its source, _devour_ the meat underneath it until nothing but bones was left to greet him –

Riley promptly snapped his hand out and way from him, snorting loudly. "Maker, _gah_!" Tuff jumped at his exclamation. "Geez, whatever this stuff is, it's smells . . Just like . . ." He turned his head towards his brother, his face clearly portraying fear at finishing his sentence.

Tuff didn't respond to that right away; instead, he leaned over, dipped his finger into the small dark pool and, with great reluctance and tentativeness, brought it to his mouth and carefully licked the tip. He immediately spit the contents right back out and into the water, using the cuff of his sleeve to dry off his tongue with a fury. His heart dropped as he looked back at Riley. "_Blood_."

They looked at the dark pool that was now growing suspiciously larger each minute. "Uh . . ." Riley started uncertainly, gripping the side of the boat with tight fingers. "You don't suppose . . . ?"

"Oh, yes," Tuff answered. "Yes, I do. _Bottoms up!_"

Riley didn't need to be told twice; the twins bent themselves at the waist over the side of the small boat, never minding the fear of it being flipped over from the sudden increase of weight on one side, and dunked their heads into the sea water until they were up to the bottom of their shoulder blades. Bubbles flitted to the surface as they bobbed in place for a few moments, the boat rocking somewhat; a minute later, they both retracted from the water with a gasp.

Both their heads were soaked, their hair dripping wet and dripping goblets of water down both the back and front of their shirts and their faces flushed from the cold temperature of the water below them. They paid no mind to it, instead, they both looked at each other and easily knew the answer to the unspoken question; "DEEPER!"

With that, they both stood up and jumped, plunging into the water with a fervent pair of splashes. The abandoned boat swung violently in their wake, moving up and down from the ripples of their exit before slowly coming to a halt.

To no one's knowledge, the string on the fishing pole, the one Tuff claimed would _eventually_ catch something, was then yanked straight out of the boat and into the water, pole and all.

The large obese turtle that had done the yanking was happy for the new chew toy it then received.

**~X~**

It was cold. It was dark. And she was scared.

She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. She barely felt alive. She wasn't even sure she was dead.

Water moved all around her, the salt stinging like fire in her side and the air in her throat coming out in multiple sizes. Her mind was trapped into a haze of pain and numbness and she was frozen, unable to do anything to help herself.

She could just _barely_ see the light filtering in from the water's surface far above her; she could also barely make out the dark blue essence flowing out of her side and her mouth(?) as though it was water itself.

She didn't even know how long she had been here. Everything was a blur. She could be anywhere; probably in the middle of the big blue, for all she knew.

Despite the fear of hearing her own heart slowing down in its beat in her ears, the fear of her blood running cold from the dangerous lack of warmth and the fear of her sight dimming ever half minute from the dizziness that just wouldn't go _away_ . . .

. . . She was calm. _Totally_ and _completely_ calm.

Like what was happening to her wasn't terrifying at all. If anything, it actually felt really . . . _Peaceful_ and . . . _Relaxing_ . . .

. . . She felt weightless and so, _so_ tired. She could fall asleep right here . . . Sleep and _never_ have to wake up . . . That would be nice . . .

She could maybe meet up with Vince later . . . For now, she could take a _nice_ . . . _Long_ rest . . .

_Swish, swish, swish . . ._

". . . _WHOA! Riley, are you seeing this?!_"

"_Yeah, I'm seeing it, Tuff, but I don't believe it . . ._"

. . . Huh? . . . Who was that? . . . Were there people here?

"_It's a girl! . . . God, she's so blue, is she dead?_"

. . . She felt something soft but firm press against either side of her neck. What were they doing . . . ? . . . Couldn't they see that she was tired . . . ?

"_. . . No, no, I got a pulse and . . . She's smells alive, _barely _. . ._"

Alive? She was still alive . . . ? Was this what alive was supposed to feel like . . . ? She couldn't remember . . .

"_C'mon, we gotta get her to land before she drowns!_"

"Drowns" . . . ? Was she drowning? How did they know - ?

All of a sudden, something grabbed her shoulders and yanked her body forward. She choked on the water that flooded down her throat when a new explosion of fire and cold came out of her side.

Ow! What were they doing?! That hurt! Didn't they see that she was hurt?! Why didn't they just leave her alone?!

"_Riley! Be careful! She's bleeding like crazy!_"

"_I'm not __blind__, Tuff, I can __see__ that! My sharky senses are going nuts just holding her_!"

Sharky? Wait, these two are sharks?! Oh, not good. Definitely not good!

Without thinking, she used practically all her strength, what little was left of it anyway, and swung her tail mindlessly. It hit its target with amazing precision, earning a dull "thwap!" and yelp of surprise from one of the voices.

"_Ow! What just – What the hell– Wait, is _this_ a _tail_?! She _has_ a _tail_?!_" So that was the one holding her so roughly. That was "Riley".

"_Focus, Riley, we need to move _now!" That must be "Tuff". The one that thought she was dead. Which she probably was . . . Or rather, _going _to be . . .

The water was pushing against her face; she was going against the current but she wasn't even moving at all . . . Oh, wait . . . Riley must still be holding her . . . That explains it . . .

Her other side felt warm . . . Really warm . . . Did he have an arm around her or something . . . . ? Come to think of it . . . . She could swear that she could hear a . . . . a heartbeat . . . . ?

It felt nice . . . . This felt like a nice place . . . . To take a . . . . . a nap . . . . .

. . . . . . A nice . . . . . . . long . . . . . . . . nap . . . . . . . .

**~X~**

Tuff broke the surface with a gasp. A second later, Riley and the girl whose skin was now a very _serious_ pale shade of blue in his arms, shot up beside him with a gasp of his own. The girl remained silent as her head lolled to her chest.

"What do we do _now_?" Riley asked Tuff, carefully adjusting his grip on the girl.

Tuff frowned, he could tell his brother was trying _desperately_ hard not to make mind of the large dark blue puddle that was rising out of the woman's side and to the surface surrounding their boat. He absently grabbed the side of it and said, "Okay, here's what we'll do; I'll climb up into the boat and you hand her to me."

"Why don't _I _climb up and _you_ hand her to _me_?" Riley questioned.

Tuff deadpanned at him. "_You're_ the stronger out of the both of us. _You'll_ be able to lift her up easier than I can; anyways, this isn't the time to argue about this, we need to hurry or we're gonna have a dead girl on our hands! And considering the rumors that are _already_ circulating around half the species that we originate from, the last thing we need is having something like _this_," He gestured briefly to the prone girl. "To explain to the local morgue," He put all his weight on his arms and heaved himself up into the boat. Once his feet touched the wooden floor, he swiftly turned himself around and held his arms out towards his brother. "Now, hand her to me before she gets drained like an orange!"

Riley didn't question him. Quickly but gently, he adjusted his hand hold on the girl's torso so they were positioned right underneath her arms. He took only a minute to ready himself – _This_ _girl was heavier than she looked!_ – Before lifting her over his head with a hefty grunt, his body sinking until the water's surface touched his chin from the abrupt shift in densities. Tuff quickly looped his arms around the girl's chest, easily relieving Riley of the weight and pulled her against him and into the boat.

He tried not to shudder at how cold she felt. She nearly felt like a beached fish. The vast amount of blood still spilling from her side wasn't helping anything either.

Tuff set her down as carefully as possible. Riley then joined him, trying hard not to shake the shanty little boat too much as he swung a leg over and nearly toppled into the bench across from the two. "Well, _that_ was easy." Riley breathed, attempting to lighten the mood between them. Tuff tried hard not to crack a smile, diverting all his attention to the girl.

The girl's unusual skin color was in a shade that they both were, at the moment, assuming was _unhealthy_, they couldn't tell if she was conscious or not because her eyes were shut with bangs of short, pale golden blonde hair sticking to her cheeks; the right side of her stomach held a huge, bleeding gash that was the size of their heads most likely and was excreting handfuls of blood with each beat of their hearts.

All in all, the girl's condition was absolutely critical.

Riley was starting to straighten himself out when he saw something. Something big and yellow sticking out of the wound, clashing strongly with the deep blue color of her blood. "Hey," Tuff looked up at him. "Look at this," He pointed to the object. Tuff followed his finger and furrowed his eyebrows at the oddity; on instinct, he ignored the feel of hot blood gushing around his fingertips and pinched at it, pulling it out deftly and bringing it to his face to examine it.

It was a tooth; large enough so that it couldn't be confused with a human's, but still small enough to not be considered with any wild animals like manticores or serpents. Its tip was soaked with blood and looked as though it had seen better days with the holes and gaping hole at its root. Tuff frowned thoughtfully. What the hell could've done damage to a girl with teeth like this?

"Uh, Tuff?" Riley said, somewhat nervously which immediately caught his attention. Tuff blinked at him. "Hate to interrupt your train of thought, but we got a _really_ bleedy girl here and we're still stuck on a boat." Looking behind him, he then added as an afterthought, "That and I _think _something took your fishing pole."

"O-oh, right, sorry!" Tuff shoved the tooth into his vest pocket absently and returned his gaze back to the girl.

She was still. Uncomfortably still. She hadn't moved even once. It was almost like she was –

Tuff then felt his heart drop in what could only be described as pure, morbid fear. He leaned forward quickly and put a hand to her throat, right under her chin where one of her veins should be. There was an **_extremely_** faint pulse; it almost felt like a breeze that rolled under her cold, pale skin.

That should've calmed him down. Except for one _tiny_ detail.

". . . _she's not breathing_ . . ." He whispered so faintly, Riley almost didn't hear him. Riley's eyes grew wide in horror as he repeated much more loudly, ". . . She's not breathing! SHE'S NOT BREATHING!"

This was horrible. This was like a nightmare – No, not like a nightmare, this was all too real. Tuff's mind went blank. This girl was dying. This girl was dying and he didn't know what to do . . .

Riley was the first to react; his fingers swiftly unbuttoned his shirt and he pulled it off like it was suffocating him. Before Tuff could even ask what he was doing, he gathered it up in his hands and pressed it hard into the wound. "This should stop it from bleeding for a couple of minutes, try giving her air!" Tuff just blinked at him, his mind a daze at what he said, causing him to snap, "Tuff, _now_, _dammit_, _now_! Before we lose her!"

Tuff broke out of his frightened stupor like Riley had just slapped him upside the head. That's right, what was he doing? He knew what to do!

He gave a flicker of a nod to Riley before looking at the girl's face. He spotted a trail of blood leaking from her mouth. It quickly vanished on the cuff of his sleeve as he wiped it away none too gently. For what he was about to do, he couldn't afford to have his shark side take control over one tiny drop of blood. He gently placed a hand on the back of the girl's head and lifted it up so her neck wasn't so bent back. With his free hand, he took two fingers and stuck it between her lips, prying them wide open easily; taking a deep breath, he pressed his mouth to hers without any further ado.

The angle of their mouths was awkward and her lips felt horribly cold against his warm ones. Not to mention he was using every ounce of his normally firm will-power to keep him from losing it over the taste of warm iron that caked her insides.

But that didn't matter right now, none of that did; his only concern was giving this woman, this complete stranger who Riley and he had just found floating in the water like a dead fish – _He shuddered at the ill-timing of the pun_ – every breath of air that he had within him.

He had to. He couldn't let her die like this. She still seemed so young. He won't let her die like this.

He felt her chest rise up from her lungs filling with air as he started to lose his. Breaking away, he took his free hand and pressed it right over her heart, forgetting all about his normal shyness towards girls, pumping hard at it with each number he counted off, "One, two, three, four . . . !" It was a little hard considering his other hand was still occupying the back of her head but this wasn't the time to be juggle back and forth.

Slowly, a rhythm started; for each deep breath of air Tuff gave her, he gave her chest four presses with his hand. "One, two, three, four!" _Breathe _. . . "One, two, three, four!" _Breathe _. . . "One, two, three, four!" _Breathe _. . .

The girl's body almost fell over a couple of times but luckily, Riley caught her with one hand before she did, never taking his other hand off the shirt sponging up her blood, and held her place as his twin continued with his makeshift CPR. It was all Riley could do as he watched Tuff helplessly.

That didn't stop his own heart falling as minutes started to roll by and the girl hadn't shown one sign of movement.

Without warning, Tuff suddenly growled out in frustration. "_Argh! Come on_, _breathe_!" His hand started to press his hand even harder against her chest. "You _need_ to _breathe_!"

Riley slowly frowned. The girl didn't even twitch at the sound of his voice and she was looker even paler than before. He didn't want to admit it, but . . . But it looked like she was gone. That there was nothing that they could do. She was lost.

Tuff was beginning to grow frantic, giving her desperate amounts of air and pressing his hand so hard against her chest that it was liable that she was going to get bruises. Slowly, as to not startle him, he took one of his hands of her side and pressed it to his shoulder, never minding the blood that had leaked through to his palm. "Tuff . . . I-I think she might be –"

"NO!" Tuff smacked his hand off, surprising him and the jolt making the boat rock. He knew what he was going to say but he didn't want to hear it . . . Not yet.

Tuff was manic with fright at this point; he cringed slightly as his hand practically pounding over her heart and making some of her ribs crack from the force but he didn't stop. He continued to give her air, slamming his mouth over hers and breathing hard.

He had to keep trying, just for a little while longer. He had to _keep_ trying! He couldn't end like this. Not here! Not now! "Please . . . !" He almost shouted to her, a futile attempt to see if some part of her would hear his voice. "Please! You need to wake up! Breathe!"

If only she would breathe . . .

He gave one final push with all the strength he had in him, human-strength, shark-strength and all as he choked out with an inhuman roar, "_Just __**BREATHE**_!"

_COUGH!_

* * *

**ME: SHE LIVES! XD BTW, As per usual, I own NOTHING!**


	3. The Clashing of Waves: Act I, Part II

**_Chapter 3._**

**_The_**

**_Clashing_**

**_Of_**

**_Waves;_**

**_Act I,_**

**_Part II_**

* * *

**Me: The lyrics that were used were originally meant to be in the first chapter but I've decided it would be much better to write the prologue first and then upload it the first chapter, but I felt like that didn't really fit so I finally decided to put them in them in this chapter.**

**Anyways, this is where things will really get started, folks! So please enjoy!**

* * *

_"__I wish I could cross my arms and cross your mind,  
'Cause I believe you'd unfold your paper heart and wear it on your sleeve,  
All my life I wish I broke mirrors instead of promises,_

_'__Cause all I see is a shattered conscience staring right back at me  
I wish I had covered all my tracks completely,  
'Cause I'm so afraid, is that the light at the far end of the tunnel or just the train?_

_Lift your arms, only heaven knows where the danger grows,  
And it's safe to say there's a bright light up ahead and help is on the way . . ._

_I forget the last time I felt brave, I just recall insecurity  
'Cause it came down like a tidal wave and sorrow swept over me . . ."_

_"__Tidal wave" - Owl City_

**~X~**

"_Just __**BREATHE**_!"

_COUGH! HCK, Cough!_

That sound had Tuff and Riley lurching back in shock.

The girl's eyes remained closed but they were watering tremendously at the no doubt burning sensation they knew was in her throat, her face was still pale but her cheeks still flushed dark blue from the force of her coughs, making her look as though she was suddenly made up with too much make-up; her hands flew to her mouth, shaking violently as her body racked with what was probably the biggest coughing fit they had ever seen.

Tuff and Riley both broke out in wide, toothy smiles. She was okay. She was alive. Okay, yes, she had lost massive amounts of blood, might possibly have a fever from the cold water –

_HLGRRKKP!_

– _Aaand _was now currently vomiting out her lungs and stomach, most likely _including_ her _lungs_ and _stomach_, up and onto the floor of the boat, a _little_ on their feet and a _lot_ on her tail; but she was alive. Alive and breathing . . . . For the most part.

When she paused in her regurgitation but still coughed, Tuff gently turned her over so her stomach pressed against the side of the boat and she was bent over at the waist, allowing him to hold on to her with one hand and to rub small soothing circles at her back comfortingly with his free hand. It was difficult to tell if it soothed her or not considering a second later she started to puke once again, the contents spilling into the water along with the tears in her eyes.

"It's okay, it's okay . . ." Tuff whispered to her as calmly as he could. "Just let it all out . . . You'll be just fine . . ." His tone could clearly stated that he was still scared out of his wits. Terrified that if he wasn't careful, the girl would just keel over and . . . And, well . . . Given current events, he'd rather not think about it.

Riley didn't say much, he only cringed at the amount of water and bile that exited the girl's throat. During which, he noticed his undoubtedly now ruined shirt stuck to her side. "Hey, uh, Tuff," He started again, gaining his attention. "Not that I'm not happy that she's okay but . . . shouldn't we _maybe_ get her to shore so we can get that," He briefly pointed to the shirt. "Looked at?"

Tuff looked at him, a little confused until he looked down and spotted the soaked shirt. "Oh, right, right, right." He said somewhat dazed. By now, the girl had finally stopped barfing but her body still shook like it was the coldest day she had ever experienced. Seeing this, Tuff cautiously turned her back onto her back with care before gathering her up in his arms and holding her to his chest. He pressed a hand to the bundled up bloodied shirt, saying, "Do you think you can row us back? I need to hold the shirt in place or she might pass out again."

Riley gave a short "Yea'." Before grabbing both of the oars and began to push and pull them back and forth. The water splashed and washed with the sound of the wooden paddles rising and sinking repeatedly into its surface.

Tuff felt a chill run through him at the cold, shuddering girl resting against him. She seemed so fragile and small compared to him. As such, his hold on her was protective and tender; he gave a ghostly smile at her face when she shivered appreciatively at the warm dampness of his clothes. It quickly fell into a hot blush when she snuggled into him and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head underneath his chin. He heard something about "so cold" and "get warm" but was too distracted by the girl's blonde hair tickling the sensitive underside of his bearded jaw.

He couldn't really blame her for doing this; with all that blood that had been drained out of her thin body, she must've felt like she was buried in early morning snow and eager for heat, had mistaken him for a thick, warm quilt. It was common for people to want heat after they've been out in the bitter cold. The chilly fog around the cove didn't really help her much, either.

Still, that didn't stop his natural human hormonal shyness from kicking in when the faint scent of sea salt, sand, plants and flowers drifted into his nose.

Beach salt and flowers . . . Hmm, that smelled nice . . .

"Getting _comfy_, over there, Tuff?" Riley's voice spoke out.

Tuff snapped right out of it and shook his head comically. He gave a blank blink before his face burst even redder than before at the sight of Riley giving him a huge and coy grin. Riley snickered at his brother's face. Tuff glowered at him. "It's not _funny_, _Riley_."

"_I_ didn't say _anything_." Riley held his hands up in protest, never dropping the oars.

"Then get rid of that smile, I know that smile; it always means _way_ more than it should." Tuff pointed out.

"Alright, alright." Riley waved him off. He continued to row but not before saying, "But you know something? I was wrong before."

Tuff looked at him. "Huh? About what?"

"About _you_ never being able to catch something with a fishing pole." Riley said with a grin. "Turns out, I was _wrong_. You _were_ able to catch something."

"_Aaand_, what did I catch?"

"_A cold date_!"

_CRACK!_

"_OW_!"

Riley was happy that he didn't need legs for rowing.

**~X~**

She got away.

How could his prey have gotten away?

He had her. He had her right where he wanted her.

Tire her out. Put her in a corner. Go for her weakest spot. Wait until she stopped struggling. Eat to and his comrades' heart's content.

How could he have lost his game?

He brought a hand up to his face. He could feel the skin still sting and burn at his touch, making him growl and his comrades whimper for him.

This wound . . . The one _she_ caused.

She made the Evil-Light come out of her tail. She had _attacked_ him. _That_ is how she got away from him and his comrades.

_She_ was _his_ dinner. _She_ was going to fill _his_ and _his_ comrade's bellies. _She_ was _his_ game!

But then she turned it all around and even _dared_ to _attack_ him!

The pathetic little morsel actually left a scar on him. On **_him_**.

His hands curled into great, tight fists. His comrades started to bark in anticipation around him.

She was still alive. Still alive and mocking him. **_Mocking_** **_him_**. The Master!

No. _No_. _No_. **_No_**! She would not be allowed to get away from him. Not from **_HIM_**.

He was the Master. The _greatest_ _hunter_ **_alive_**. **_No_** **_one_** ever got away from him and lived to tell the tale. He made sure of that.

One of his comrades returned, galloping in from a bush and at the sight of him, howled eagerly.

He understood instantly. His comrade had found something. Something not too far from here.

He allowed himself to show a feral grin. He ignored the pain that flared in it.

This was good. _Very,_ _very_ good, indeed.

He would find her. He would find her and make her pay for her insolence.

No one will ever dare mock the Master.

**~X~**

Riley tried hard not to stumble in his step as his foot made contact with the sandy beach, but was a little hard at press considering the current bruise that was forming on his left shin. He frowned at his twin's incapability of taking a little joke.

But then again, considering they had an injured, bleeding, unconscious girl that had almost _died_ just a couple of instances ago on their hands, now really wasn't the time for levity.

The said girl now in his arms then chose the time to shiver pitifully against him, curling her hands into weak little fists and huddling closer to his bare chest. Tuff, who had her previously, decided to have him hold her while he went and tied up the boat so it wouldn't drift away in the waves. Riley briefly pondered on whether or not he noticed that his fishing rod was missing. He remembered mentioning it briefly before.

That aside, Riley had taken her as carefully as he could, holding her bridal style; his thick arms around her shoulders and under her legs, keeping the side with the still shirt-bound wound out and resting the girl's tail ontop of her kneecaps after managing it with _great_ difficulty. He knew how sensitive tails can be due to bad experience in the past and didn't want to risk grasping at it by accident. Maker knows, he had been slapped enough times. . .

Despite that thought, he felt like crying from joy and smiling like an idiot when she tucked her head under his chin rather similarly to how she had done with Tuff before. Although he didn't cry, he still smiled. He couldn't help it. He couldn't remember the last time a cute girl like the one right here was _this_ close to him without him having to flirt with her; true, she wasn't even conscious for it but still, it was better than nothing.

She was the perfect size for him to carry. Not too light, not too heavy, perfectly smooth skin at just the right places – _As long as he ignored the big, bloody gash_ – and she smelled _somewhat_ . . . Eh, _almost_ good enough for him to launch into his happy place. Feeling kind of victorious in a way, and no ways sleazy like a regular person would've, he clenched his fists joyously with a big toothy grin. If he could, he could die happy right now.

Of course, that was impossible if you had a polar opposite yet identical twin older brother.

Tuff saw this and instantly became appalled. "_Riley_! _Really_?!" He exclaimed. Riley snapped out of his trance, flinching at his uptight tone and glancing back at him blankly. Tuff frowned at him, gesturing madly at the dark-blue faced girl pressed up against him. "What? You're so desperate for a girlfriend; you're stooping as low as taking advantage of a poor, sick girl now?"

"I am _not_ taking advantage!" Riley retorted, indignant. "You told me to hold on to her while you tied up the boat and that's what I'm doing! And, last I checked, that's being _helpful_ not _lecherous_."

Tuff gave his twitching fingers a withering look before saying, "Riley, that's not the point; my point is that, helpful or not, you do **_not _**invade a young woman's personal space when she's awake and/or unconscious!"

The girl was the one to respond this time. She gave a low murmur as she shifted around at the feel of Riley's eager fingers tickling the soft part of the backs of her knees. " . . . _Mfh_ . . . _Vince, stop that _. . ._ You know . . . meh, ticklish_ . . ."

Riley gave her sleepy face a smile before looking at Tuff. "You see? She's fine with it! No harm, no foul, no bruise!"

Tuff's mixed expression clearly stated that he could _not_ believe that the man in front of him was his brother. His _identical_ _twin_, let alone at that. "Um, you _may_ or _may __not_ have noticed, but your name isn't Vince; it's _Riley_." Tuff said, sarcasm ringing his tone like a gong. "I know this, because that's the name that Mom chose for you when Mom and Dad chose their names for us while we were still fighting for elbow space in Mom's stomach."

Riley blinked at him before saying in amazement, "Whoa, you actually _remember_ that? All I remember biting something hard yet kind of fuzzy."

". . . Riley, _that_ was my head." Tuff deadpanned.

Riley's mouth shrunk into a small "o". "_Ooh_, that's explains why it tasted so sour." Tuff frowned dryly, unamused. Riley then declared with a straight face to him and, what Tuff guessed, the world, "Anyway, back to the point; nope, my name is not "_Riley_", from now on, I'm "_Vince_"!"

Tuff hissed at him with a finger slapped to his mouth. "_SHH! _Dial it down, fish-head; she's going to wake up!" The girl, as if on cue, then squirmed slightly as she tried to get comfortable in bare-chested sharkman's hold. To Tuff's relief and Riley's bemusement, she returned to being still and only gave a low groan after she was through.

"Kinda hard to tell if she's a light sleeper, huh?" Riley quipped out of nowhere, causing Tuff to look at him questioningly. Looking down at the girl, he continued, "I mean, you try to move her; there's no guarantee that she'll stay asleep. The first couple of minutes, you're okay to hand her back and forth," Tuff jumped a little as he watched Riley rock the girl in emphasis to his horror. "And then before you know it, _BAM_!" Riley stopped rocking her then flexed his hands with wide eyes. "Ya get one right in the kisser! Lord knows you and I have sent that a lot growing up, so who's to say that won't happen to us if we move her again?" He paused for a minute, taking in his brother's look of utter disbelief. "Do tell me if I'm wrong."

Tuff was silent for a few more moments before stating matter-of-factly, ". . . You just want to keep holding onto her, don't you?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny that at this moment." Riley stuck up his nose at his accusation. Tuff flicked his nose lightly in response, making him snort.

Tuff put a hand over his eyes, rubbing his temple at the newfound headache that was starting up. Not at the unpredictably nonsensical way that Riley was taking this situation, but at the amount of logical sensibility he had concerning the ailing girl in his arms.

As much as he hated to admit it, and he _always_ did, Riley struck a very good point. The girl wouldn't stay asleep forever unless her health took another drastic turn for the worse, and there would be no telling when she actually would wake up. And something in his gut told him that she waking up in the middle of two strange men with sharp teeth handling her like she was a piece of meat they were bargaining over was **_not_** going to be an easy thing to explain. Especially with her feverish state of being and that huge wound on her that could've been made by anything.

Looking at Riley and the girl one last time, he put his hand over his eyes again and sighed/groaned lightly. ". . . _Alright_, you can hold to her for **_now_**," He said that part sternly to a now brightly grinning Riley. "But only because if I separate you two she's _sure_ to wake up." Riley "yay"ed happily at this and proceeded to adjust his already decent hold on the girl, making her moan lightly. "Now, come on, let's get her back to the sub and check her side; I want to check that wound of hers, it's in sorry shape by the looks of it."

Riley beamed at him with his cheeks tinged a little red in a way that most ladies would've found cute. "Don't worry. I'm not ready to move anytime soon –" Riley's expression then abruptly changed from a smile to flat line in a blink.

Tuff, seeing this and was immediately as to why such a smile from Riley disappeared, asked, "What? What is it?"

Riley looked at him, his voice sounding perplexed. "Tuff, I just thought of something."

"Go on." Tuff crossed his arms, showing his interest.

"You're gonna try and fix this wound, right?" Riley stated, naively.

"Obviously." Tuff couldn't help but roll his eyes at him.

"So that means you're gonna have to look at it, right?"

"Clearly."

That was when Riley dropped the bomb. "So that means you're gonna have to take off this girl's shirt, _right_?"

"Yes, Riley, I –" Tuff's face suddenly exploded in a red hot flush with his irises shrinking to the size of pins at what his brother was implying finally broke through to him. ". . . . . . . . _Oh_ . . ."

Riley, who was a little hard pressed not to laugh at his brother's mortified face, gave him a reassuring smile. "Heh, don't worry, brother, I know what you're thinking, but no worries, your brother's got a solution!"

Tuff frowned. He had a feeling that he was going to regret this . . .

**~X~**

. . . _Aaand_ he was right.

"This is your _solution_?!" Tuff exclaimed as best as he could at normal volume.

Riley who sat across from him, shrugged impishly. "Hey, it's better than nothing!"

"**_How_** is tying our wrists to an unconscious girl's ones and then blindfolding ourselves _better_ than _nothing_?" Tuff demanded him incredulously, shaking his bound wrist which was earlier tied to the wrist of the girl below him emphasizing his point.

Riley rolled his eyes. He admitted they did look kind of ridiculous; Riley had taken the sleeve fabric of his now completely ruined, blood-caked shirt and ripped them into makeshift sections of rope, tying one to his wrist and to the girl's left wrist and tying the other to his brother's to her right wrist. The said girl's arms moved limply each time they moved their hands, making her look as though she were some odd-looking puppet. What scraps of fabric that weren't used for their wrists, he quickly tied them around his and Tuff's foreheads so they wouldn't fall off. They both were seated on their respective sides of the quickly-put-together bed that she slept on and tried to give her as much space as possible but were at a bit of disadvantage because of the miniscule tent that crowded their shoulders and nudged them forward so they hovered over her prone form.

But still, despite how silly they looked, he replied to Tuff with a collected face, "Look, when she starts to wake up the ropes will let us know when because her arms will start moving on their own and they'll tug on them unconsciously."

Tuff then jabbed at the bands rubbing against their wild bangs in annoyance. "So what's the deal with these?"

"You obviously don't want to violate her privacy right?" Riley stated. Before Tuff could defend himself on that, he added, "The fabric will cover our eyes so that way we can get her top off and you can clean her side without one of us ending up peeping at her!"

"By "one of us" you mean _you_?" Tuff pointed out point blankly.

Riley gave him a sharp "humph!" saying, "My point still stands. We can do what we need to do without doing anything wrong, you see? No harm, no foul, no bruise!"

Tuff looked at him, askance. "Your sense of logic is seriously twisted, you know that?"

Riley, not catching the wary tone behind his words, simply grinned obliviously, "Thank you! Now come on," He slid his band down over his eyes. "Let's get to work!"

Tuff frowned but slipped his band down as well. "I can_not_ believe you talked me into this."

"Hey, it's a little weird but it'll work." Riley pointed at him, more like pointing to the wall due to temporary loss of sight.

"Oh, whatever, let's just get this over with." Tuff waved Riley off, forgetting the fact that he wouldn't see it.

"Will do! Okay, where do we start first?"

". . . Well, first thing we need to see if there are any buttons or zippers on this thing so we won't have to pull it off and bother the wound. That's gotta be something somewhere . . ."

"So, you're saying we should look around the collarbone and stomach?"

"Pretty much, just be _careful_ where you put your _hands_."

"Yeah, yeah, alright . . . Not sure if I can, considering the blindfold but I'll give it a shot."

"May I point out that the blindfolds were _your_ idea?"

"Ha, ha, very funny."

". . . Oh! Geez, Riley, whatever you do, _do_ _not_ put your hand _here_!"

"_Here_? _Where_ here?"

"_Here_, here!"

"Oh! You mean _here_."

"_GAH_! **_RILEY_**, _what_ did I _just_ tell _you_?!"

"_ACK_! Sorry! I got confused!"

"_How_ could you get – Oh, nevermind, just keep looking, or, uhm, _feeling_."

"For a zipper or some buttons?"

"_Yes_!"

"Alright, _alright_! Take it easy, fish-head, don't bite my head off! By the way, weren't you the one telling me to dial it down just a couple of seconds a– Whoa, wait a minute."

"What is it?"

"I think I found a zipper under . . . 'Neath her _chiiin_ . . . It's kinda buried in her collar but I _thiiink_ I got it . . ."

"Oh, okay, that's good. Don't be too quick to pull it down, though, odds are it's jammed from being in the water for so long and –"

_ZZIIPP – SNAP!_

". . . You just tried to yank at it and it broke off."

"I, uhh, will neither confirm nor deny that . . .?"

"_Really_?"

"It's the best I can come up with off the top of my head right now!"

"_Oy_ . . . Well, at least it seems like you got the top open so we can probably get it off now."

"Boy, there's a couple of words I bet you _never_ thought you'd say, eh?"

". . . Shut up."

"Wait, I just thought of something again."

"What is it now?"

"How are we supposed to get this girl's shirt off if our hands are tied to her wrists?"

Tuff froze in place, his blind hands clutching at the one open end of the girl's top in readiness to pull the rest of it off. He turned up his head back up slowly from where he was "looking" at the girl at the same time Riley did. Neither one moved.

Silence overtook them . . . At least for another five seconds.

Tuff's hand snapped to his face where he yanked off the blindfold with irate fury. The uptight, anxious tone in his voice could cut metal as he hissed at him as loudly as he could. "_HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?!_" Riley jumped in fright at him, taking off his own blindfold and wincing at the hard stare he was giving him. "All of this was your idea! You got me all worked up about women and personal privacy and somehow talked me into tying the both of us up with her like it was s-s-some sick . . . _sexual_ game!" Riley looked at him blankly before opening his mouth to say something. Tuff beat him to it by saying, "And _yes_, I'm aware of how that sounded; I've read books all about things like that back at the library at home, I know how things like that work as much as I rather **_not_** to."

Riley shook his head at him, getting somewhat agitated himself. "Well, _excuse me_ for thinking blindfolds would help this girl keep her modesty while we relied on our natural human instincts while we got this damn rubber top off!"

That was when the girl's eyes snapped open.

Tuff and Riley looked down and their eyes promptly widened at the stunned expression on her face.

_Uh-oh_.

The three of them looked at each other in silence. The girl's eyes flickered back and forth between them. Then at her _bound _wrists. Then at her _open _top and nearly bare chest. Then back at them again.

"Uh, hi?" Riley waved his bound hand awkwardly at her.

At those words, all hell broke loose.

"**_AAAAAAUUUUGGGGGHH_**!"

_CRACK!_

_WHACK!_

"_Agh –_!"

"_Guh_ –!"

Tuff's hand slapped over his now bleeding nose while he heard Riley grunt in pain and caught a faint glimpse of him falling onto his back, clutching his chin in the exact same place where the now awake and _very_ active girl had socked him hard.

The girl's arms were now thrashing wildly, desperately trying to break free from the fabric binding them together, her screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs. Tuff tried to focus but he couldn't help but be impressed. Where the heck was she getting all this energy from?

His thoughts were caught short when he saw something glinting in her hand. Something sharp and deadly that she had aimed _right_ _at_ _him_ –

_RRIIPP!_

Tuff blinked. The fabric on his wrist was now a tiny piece of badly cut fabric. Regaining his senses, he looked up just in time to see her, with now one free wrist matching his own, cutting her other wrist free with a small knife. What the -? Where'd the knife come from?

Her posture was ragged and hasty as she kept her back to him, never minding that her shirt had slid down ever so slightly so her shoulders were bare and Tuff could easily see the skin.

Forgetting about his bloody nose, – _Which was a royally bad idea, considering he was half-shark and such _– He lunged forward and grabbed at her shoulder with a firm hand. When her head turned, he immediately started, "Miss, please calm down, it's okay! We're not trying to –"

She wouldn't hear of it.

Her face looked like it was on overdrive as it blanched in horror at him. Her mouth flew open in a scream, "_GET __**AWAY **__FROM __**ME!**_" her hands coming up and shoving at him with surprisingly good force, nicking his chin with the tip of her knife and drawing small drops of blood.

Tuff fell onto the small of his back with a grunt. His sharky senses were starting to come on high with the blood that was leaking down from his nose and the newfound cut on his jaw. He slapped his hand back over his nose, pinching it tightly to try and stop and the flow. That didn't stop his adrenaline from fueling the sudden feeling of hunger that launched through him. The need to eat. The need to make the one who did this scream for her life –

Her? Wait, her. _Her_. _HER_!

He caught a glimpse of her tail and the corner of a blanket as she raced out of the tent.

Tuff jumped to his feet . . . Only to meet with the top of the tent and bring it fluttering down on both him and Riley from the sudden force of his head meeting the "ceiling". He fell to his knees and scuttled forward, somehow making it over his brother who was now beyond confused at the abrupt change in surroundings and quite possibly kneeing him in the gut during the process as he had heard an "OY!" of pain; once he reached the edge of it, he poked his head out and met with the sight of the girl standing around and whirling her head around at the sight of their camp.

"Miss!" He exclaimed, causing her to snap her head around and pale even more in fright. "Miss, please don't run away! It's okay!"

Once again, she acted like she didn't hear him and begun running blindly down the sandy beach of the cove. Growling in frustration, Tuff tossed the cloak of the former tent off of him and hauled himself back onto his feet, shooting after her.

The girl, despite her best efforts, was starting to lose her energy from before and fortunately wasn't getting too far; even from a slight distance he could tell that she was struggling to hold the blanket she had taken over her almost uncovered chest and keep herself from stepping on it and tripping herself while trying to push herself further down shore all at the same time.

It took him a minute, but he managed to get close enough to her to say, "Miss! It's okay! We're not trying to hurt you! Please stop! You're just hurting yourself even more!"

He could see her waver at his words. She had absently slapped a hand over her side, which was starting to bleed out once again and staining the white cloth of blanket each time it touched her.

"Please!" Tuff shouted at her, watching the drops of blood of sand grow into small rivers down her leg and her desperately trying to ignore it and speed up. "I swear we're only trying to help you!"

_"__. . . she's not breathing . . ."_ He heard his own voice echoing through his mind.

The girl continued to run, never stopping but unleashing small gasps and grunts of pain. Obviously the feeling of her wound was now sinking in.

_"__. . . She's not breathing! SHE'S NOT BREATHING!"_

Tuff's heart was racing in fear. This was not good. Not good at all. If she kept this up she would definitely . . .

That unfinished and brutal thought made something snap within him. Something manic and powerful.

"_Argh! Come on_, _breathe_! _You _need_ to breathe!"_

Whatever it was, it energized his body all within an instant. Just enough to plow forth through the weightless, shifting sand, propel his body forward with a hand stretched out towards her and shout with a great mixture of panic and demand. . .

_"__Just –"_

"–_**STOP**_!"

It all felt like it happened in slow motion; Tuff's fingers wrapping around the girl's small, undefended wrist . . . His arm pulling it and it's owner to him sharply . . . A petite body crashing into his thick one with shout of pain and surprise . . . Time came back to its present state when they both fell to the beach with a "Whump"!

Tuff breathed heavily as he lay there on the sand. His heart just felt like he had just taken a marathon across the entire length of the island when he knew in it actuality it was just a couple of miles. But, trying to catch an injured, shifting topped girl who was apparently set on killing herself would do that to you, he guessed –

When he looked up after propping himself up on his elbows, all thoughts of what had just occurred disappeared in two seconds flat.

The girl was draped across his chest with the blanket bunched up hapless at her collar, her fingers were clutched aimlessly at his vest and her expression was somewhere between lethargic and hypnotic. Her eyes were fluttering open and closed, looking at him in a way that was both here and somewhere far, _far_ away.

All the same he couldn't hold the gasp he gave when he saw the color of them; they were orange. _Pure_ orange. Not like light brown or hazel that had more gold than green, but _absolute_ orange.

But not like the lively color orange that one would see on the tough skin of a citrus or the aging color orange that another would find on a falling leaf in autumn. This was totally its own unique orange. A wonderful collaboration of light and dark that made Tuff think of the sun as it started to sink below or start to rise in the sky, ready to welcome the night or morning that would bring about a new day.

In other words . . . Beautiful. Just . . . _Beautiful_.

His eyes locked on hers like they did his, or more like _through_ him since, due to blood loss, her gaze was totally unfocused. He kept his eyes on hers as he slowly straightened back up, lifting her with him and earning a small groan of protest. Without really thinking, he brought a trembling hand up, brushed her bangs out her face tenderly and whispered lowly, the unrecognized feeling behind it scaring him a little with a calm smile, "_Don't worry; you're going to be okay. I promise. You and I are . . . Are going to be just fine._"

The girl no move to show she heard him. Instead, her eyes rolled up into her head and she fell against his collarbone with a quiet, weak sigh.

At that moment, Tuff jolted out of his trance. Looking down at the top of the girl's head, thoughts started crashing rapidly through his mind. What the heck? What was that all about? Where did that come from? He was just trying to stop her and when he looked at her eyes, he just . . . Well, he just _lost_ it . . . At least, that's what seemed like happened . . .

. . . No, no, what had happened was simply the thrill from the chase, right? . . . Right?

"So . . ." Riley's voice started out slowly from behind him, making him jump and nearly lose his grip on the girl. Looking up, he caught sight of the ugly bruise on his chin which was rubbed at painfully by Riley as he finished naively, ". . . Maybe we should get a doctor?"

The sheer simplicity of that statement, the one thing they should've just thought of doing _logically_ in the **_absolute_** first place, made Tuff's face drop . . . Before he abruptly smacked it with his palm yet again.

_Oy vey._

* * *

**ME: PHEW! Wow, this is probably the longest chapter I've written so far which is really weird considering so far it's only been three chapters in a course of what EIGHTEEN days? Double WOW, that's the quickest I've ever updated anything! That's amazing and . . . A little sad.**

**Anyway, the dialogue that was used a little before what I now affectionately call "The blindfold scene", was actually used in a comic page that designed by the awesome Doodlebotbop over in Deviantart, named "Luck Bros 'n Cassie Pg.1"; if you like the scene please check out the original page, I promise you'll get a laugh or two out of it.**

**On another note, provided I'm not too distracted, I'm going to try and make this story my main project for a while. Just until I can get some inspiration going for some of the other Major and ficlet stories I've got on hold. So my update schedules' most likely going to be every 6-7 days and I promise the results will not be disappointing!**

**Okay, enough gabbing from me, until next time!**


	4. The Clashing of Waves: Act I, Part III

**_Chapter 4._**

**_The_**

**_Clashing_**

**_Of_**

**_Waves;_**

**_Act I,_**

**_Part III_**

* * *

_"__Feeling my way through the darkness,  
Guided by a beating heart . . .  
I can't tell where the journey will end,  
But I know where to start . . ._

_They tell me I'm too young to understand,_  
_They say I'm caught up in a dream . . ._  
_Well, life will pass me by if I don't open up my eyes_  
_Well, that's fine by me . . ._

_So wake me up when it's all over,  
When I'm wiser and I'm older,  
All this time I was finding myself,  
And I didn't know I was lost . . ._

_So wake me up when it's all over,  
When I'm wiser and I'm older,  
All this time I was finding myself,  
And I didn't know I was lost . . ."_

_"__Wake Me Up" - Avicii_

**~X~**

Dr. Haddock Marlin hummed distantly to himself as he gathered his supplies together. Judging by the almost nonsensical tune he was humming out in his throat, he was in a well-to-do mood as he carefully examined each of his medical tools and set them carefully inside the satchel.

Today was a good day. His work went rather slowly and the only patients that did come in were only in need of a bandage or healing potion or two. All in all, a rather good day to be an old doctor such as himself.

Especially considering all those hideously grotesque deaths that had been occurring around the forest area lately . . .

He sighed lightly at that thought. Back in his youthful days, he never minded such a day when patients with broken bones, missing limbs, a life-threatening illness or a bleeding gash or two would've started coming in by droves to his door, asking for his natural expertise. Of course, the past was in the past; him being the old Were-mouse that he was now, his hands were still as steady and calm as need be but were now getting wrinkly and randomly blotchy with the regular aches and pains in the joints of his fingers and wrists that came with it. As expected they got cold or warm quick on the dependency of the weather and the claws were getting duller with each year that took its toll on him.

He shook his head. Life can be so unfair sometimes.

Oh well. No sense fussing over it now. The past is the past, you can't change that.

With that in mind, he went back to organizing. He had better hurry or he wouldn't be able to get back home before lunch.

Once the last roll of gauze was put inside, he closed the satchel and pulled it over his head. Hmm, maybe he could grab a big cup of noodles from the local stand. One with lots of chicken broth and lettuce . . . Mmm, his stomach was growling already. Smiling, he grabbed the hand-sized ball-topped cane he had set up against the table earlier, his ears flicking with each tap it made on the floor while making his way to and out the door.

He continued to hum aimlessly as he locked the door behind him, his tail swaying happily behind him. Yes, some noodles sound really spectacular right now –

"HEY!"

That voice came out of nowhere, almost having his heart jump ten paces off its original beat and him squeaking to true Mouse-like nature. He patted his chest right after to calm it down and let out a small breath of relief.

Turning his head, he felt his eyebrows go up at the sight of a tall, ragged-looking, red-haired man panting heavily behind him. His tank top looked as though it had been put on in haste; due to it being inside out and backwards with the tag sticking up and hitting the underside of his red-bearded jaw and his boots were splattered with large mounds of mud and grass, clearly showing signs of carelessly racing through the forest.

What stuck out to Dr. Marlin, however, were the man's two rows of usually sharp teeth. No doubt, given the man's human appearance, the child was a half-blood. Of what, at the moment, was debatable. The said half-blood took a moment to catch his breath, leaning heavily on his knees before snapping his head back up and looking at him with wild green eyes. "You're a doctor!"

Dr. Marlin blinked at the man's obvious statement. He glanced at his satchel, then at the nameplate at his door that bore the symbol of the Red Cross. "Umm . . . Thank you?" He looked back at the man, unsure of what else to say.

The man took two quick breaths of air before standing upright. "No, I mean, I _need_ a doctor; are you busy?"

"Oh," Dr. Marlin started. "Uhm, no, Lad, I was just closing up for the morning to go get some lunch." He cast a look at him before adding, "Pardon me for saying so, but, you don't _look_ like you're injured."

"Huh?" The man looked at him in confusion, before what he said settled in, to which he quickly responded, "Oh, no, no, no! _Not_ me! This girl that my brother and I found injured by the cove." He stuck a thumb out towards the forest in emphasis. "She's in pretty bad shape and we can't manage it by ourselves."

"Oh, I see." Dr. Marlin crossed his arms. He couldn't help the slight doubt in his tone. Trying to keep his face neutral, he asked, "What exactly did you and your brother find?"

"A blue-skinned fish girl with a huge tail and a bleeding injury in her side the size of our heads." The man said with a straight face.

The man's ear twitched, his face falling into a cringe. ". . . Well, _that's _one I've never heard of before."

"I know, right?" The man smiled calmly, not disturbed by what he said at all before it quickly fell away with him saying, "Anyway, the girl's not doing too good; she's almost died already and is still just barely hanging on by a thread. My brother's back at our camp watching over her now but we could really use some help."

Dr. Marlin raised an eyebrow at this. "If that's the case, Lad, then why didn't you bring her _here_ where I could've treated her?" He gestured to his tiny hospital in some sense of exasperation. "Surely, if the young lady's life is in such peril, you would've brought her here and everything would've been well taken care of."

At this, the man rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Well, don't get me wrong doc, we _would've_ if we _could've _but, uh," He looked around nervously, like he was expecting someone to spontaneously jump out and attack him. Dr. Marlin frowned but didn't comment on it. The man then continued, "You see, my brother and I _kind_ of got in some trouble with a few of the locals here over by the restaurant and we **_really_** didn't want to risk bumping into them again with the girl in tow; in fact, I'm kind of jumping the creek right now just coming **_back_** here by myself." Looking back down at him, he finished, "Besides, two strange sharkmen suddenly coming out of the woods and bringing in an equally strange and injured girl wouldn't really look good, would it? Just gives them another reason to take all our teeth and make watch-dog charms out of our bones."

Dr. Marlin's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Oh, so, you're half _shark_?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," The Half-Shark rolled his eyes, his tone somewhat bored and sarcastic as sign of expectancy while droning, ""We're _terrifying_ and we're out to _eat_ your _children_." And anything else people can come up with." Planting his hands on his hips, he gave a reassuring and toothy grin. "But, don't worry; contrary to popular belief, Tuff and I are the _good_ kind! Saving cute ladies in distress and looking for a quick lunch in any way possible." He then leaned in towards and quickly clarified in a casual whisper to the stunned doctor, "But not necessarily in that order." Before he smiled once again.

Dr. Marlin looked up at him, a little taken aback by the cheerful honesty of this young Half-blood. His nervous mousey instincts, after hearing him say the word "Shark" and casting another look at the two rows of _incredibly_ sharp teeth set behind his wide mouth, were telling him to bop him upside the head and run like there was no tomorrow. It was a comical yet effective move as he had found out over the course of his years.

However . . . He creaked his head slightly in thought. There was something in him saying that he shouldn't be so quick to judge the Half-Shark asking for his help before him. After all, god knows how wild people could get about rumors surrounding were-beasts in the like. After all, weren't rodents such as himself once claimed to be the harbingers of death during the time of the Black Plague? He recalled the amount of arguments and scraps he had gotten into with paranoid and judgmental humans and others such as them years back. He had enough scars and bumps to prove it, too.

Besides, he was a doctor, sworn in to give medicine to the sick and lend a hand to the injured, despite the consequences, wasn't he? If what this man is saying is true, it might as well be worth some checking out.

An afterthought then sprung into his mind. Perhaps this girl might be somehow connected to those murders that the guards' and a good portion of the townspeople are fretting over . . .

He pushed that last thought out of his mind before tapping the butt of his cane against the ground in finality. The Half-Shark gave a short "Hmm?" at him before Dr. Marlin said, "Very well, lad, if you're being honest about this, I'll take a look at this lady friend of yours. Where are you and your brother camping?"

Riley grinned at him before pointing towards the forest. "Like, I said, we're camping on the shore along Tealside Cove."

Dr. Marlin's eyes widened in shock. "Tealside Cove?!" He repeated, earning a look from the Half-Shark. He spread his hands out at him and stated blatantly, "Lad, are you joking? That's on the other side of the island!"

"Yeah, I _know_!" The Half-Shark agreed calmly. "You would not _believe_ how many miles I ran just to get here! I almost fell into the river separating both sides twice with all the mud's that's been piling up there!" He held up a mud-covered boot briefly before setting it back down again. "If that wasn't enough, I almost got bit by some wolf that came at me out of nowhere!"

"A wolf?" Dr. Marlin repeated, his voice turning eerie.

"Yep, looked really ticked off too about something. Can't imagine what, though . . ." The Half-Shark added.

Dr. Marlin frowned. A wolf. That did _not_ sound good . . .

But he had to worry about that later. Right now, he had bigger fish to fry, sort to speak. Turning his attention back to the Half-blood, he asked, "What's your name, Lad?"

The Half-shark, not taking this as an odd question, replied simply, "Riley Luck."

"Well, then, "Riley"," Dr. Marlin started, turning the butt of his cane into the dirt at his feet. "How do you expect an old man such as me to make it to the other side of the island before sundown?"

Riley didn't respond right away; he hummed quietly to himself, looking over the elderly doctor from head to toe. A couple of moments of silence passed over them, that of which really _did_ _not_ help quiet down the skittering panic that Dr. Marlin's instincts were building up at the look Riley gave him when he leaned over and scanned his frail, hunching shoulders and rickety frame. He leaned back up and asked him with a serious utmost tone, "How much do you weigh?"

That earned him a bewildered look. "Beg pardon?"

**~X~**

Tuff sighed quietly. He dipped the rag in his hands into the small bowl filled with cool water sitting beside him, soaking it up before wringing it out, folding it up and carefully setting on the creased forehead of the girl. He really wished he knew her name. Calling her "The girl" was really starting to get annoying.

The girl, almost like he was hearing his thoughts, groaned softly as she shifted her head onto the pillow under her head. Her hands twitched against the surface of the blanket covering her from the collar down, leaving both her arms open and her shoulders bare. Tuff adjusted the cloth when it slid a little out of place and said gently, "Just hold on . . . . Hold on for a little longer. Riley will be back soon with some help . . . I _hope_." That last part he said more to himself than her. She simply remained silent.

Tuff looked up to see if the tarp he had put up earlier wasn't about to fall down. To his relief, it was still hung perfectly in place and successfully blocking out the hot rays of the sun. He was happy that the cloth from the tent hadn't been ripped when the girl – _Argh, that was getting annoying!_ – had awoken and abruptly freaked out earlier, allowing him to make quick use of it and put it up to give her and him some cool shade. He had hoped it would help bring her fever down but sadly, her fever remained as constant as ever. So here he was, watching over her in a weak attempt at nursing just until Riley got back . . . Whenever _that_ would be.

His mind, heavy with worry and boredom, brought back memories that had only occurred an hour ago; him trying to gather up the remnants of the fallen tent to no avail and much to his aggravation; Riley volunteering to run over to town and look for a doctor and promising to avoid anything, and he did mean, **_anything_**, that would get him into trouble again such as the waitress and her boyfriend from earlier that day or _another_ cute girl; him yelling at Riley to put on a shirt before he went, drawing out the usual heated yet somewhat hilarious argument before his twin begrudgingly agreed; and him keeping his eye on the girl – _Seriously_, _he really wished he knew her name . . . _– while trying to get the tarp up and stable at the same time.

He sighed once again. He silently cursed his and his brother's tendency to get into situations like this and causing him to replay every single moment like a record in his head. Why couldn't he think about regular things, such as tools or hunting or hell, even young, cute girls like the one before him like every other regular man?

He looked down at the gir– at _her_ sleeping face. He breathed out silently, with a curled hand propped up against his chin. . . . She _was_ cute. More than that, she was beautiful. But not the regular kind like you would see in most women, more like . . . Like _uniquely_ beautiful.

Her skin, still an uncomfortably pale shade, was the color of turquoise with a slight lightening across her nose, her cheeks and her lips, making her cheekbones softly pop. Her hair was a pale gold with her bangs just brushing the top of her eyebrows and cut so some thick strands were styled just over her ears. Her small ears were rounded out with a set of pale fin-like appendages that matched the one surrounding the long, skinny blue and navy blue striped tail which ended in a navy blue, spotted white stump; from where it slipped out of the blanket, he was amazed to watch the blood inside it twist and change from a slow, steady ripple to a thick, clouding river design back and forth repeatedly in a nearly confused fashion. He could make out her petite doll-like figure from the outline it made in the blanket; he briefly remembered how light she had felt when he had lifted her before. It was almost as though she ate the smallest of feathers for food. Given everything else, he wouldn't find it that too surprising.

Looking over, he winced at the sight of Riley's now cut-up heap of a shirt a few feet from him. He winced at the amount of dark blue that had been absorbed within its fabric. It was incredible that he and Riley hadn't gone berserk with **_that_** much blood within their reach. He had to remember to get rid of that before they went and did _that_ again.

Turning his attention back to the small, blue girl, he frowned at her sympathetically. Her face grimaced occasionally before relaxing with her mouth whispering a little whimper or a moan of pain. Her fingers continued to shake as they did before, tightening every so often at whatever force she was fighting off behind her closed eyes. He then ultimately decided on hating his uselessness at not being able to help her any more then they already did.

Poor girl. Whatever happened to her must've been awful to get an injury like that and be thrown into the ocean like garbage. He could tell that all too easily by the look that she had in her eyes when she had first woken up. Bright orange eyes so full of fear and confusion . . . .

. . . . Then again, the confusion might've been _their_ fault.

_TROMP, TROMP, TROMP!_

What the –?

_"__YEEEEECCCHH!"_

_"__Hold on, doc, we're nearly there!"_

_"__I hope so, lad, there's only so much more my old tail can take!"_

Tuff spun his head around and immediately pulled a face at the sight rushing toward the camp.

Riley was stomping full force out of the thick forest trail in a sprint that even he had to admire, red in the face from exertion and no doubt sweating bullets; his arms were looped under a pair of bobbing, frail legs of which their Were-Mouse owner held onto Riley's shoulders with all the vigor he could with one hand as the other was occupied with a cane to keep himself from being thrown off by the constant jostling and bumping he experienced on his back.

Tuff blinked. Okay, that was probably the . . . . _Fifth _oddest thing that he had ever seen in his life.

Before he could contemplate more on that, Riley then made the last stretch of miles between them and the camp, screeching to a halt on the heels of his boots just inches away from Tuff, who reeled back cautiously. The old Were-Mouse slammed against Riley's shoulder blades, almost making him drop the cane and making him look even more disgruntled and disheveled than before. "Hey, Tuff, I'm back!" Riley grinned, indeed as red and sweaty as Tuff predicted but making no mind of it. "And I found us a doctor!"

Tuff looked at the old Were-Mouse who was looking back and forth between him and Riley. "Uhh, yeah, I can see that."

"So, you're Tuff." The Were-Mouse clarified, running a shaking hand through the small tuft of hair on his head and flattening his ears. "Do you mind telling your _brother_ here," He bopped Riley on the top of his head with his cane in aggravation, earning an annoyed look in response. "That old people do _not_ like to be charged through the island like it was some kind of _rodeo_!?"

Tuff stood up and helped Riley set the Were-Mouse back down on his feet with caution, given what he had just experienced. "Yeah, sure, sorry, Dr. –?"

"Dr. Marlin, thank you," The Were-Mouse finished while straightening out the cuffs on his coat and the belt of his pants which had shifted earlier. "Hadn't been that thrown around since Junkan Island eighteen years back when I had to ride a flea-bitten weasel!" Riley chuckled a little at that while fixing up his own shirt. Tuff didn't need a dictionary to tell him that Riley already liked him.

Dr. Marlin caught sight of the pale, shaking girl and instantly gestured at her. "I'd take that's the young lady that Riley mentioned to me?"

Tuff glanced at her and nodded. "Yeah, I've been keeping an eye on her but it looks like she's getting worse."

To this, Dr. Marlin stuck the butt of his cane in Tuff's face, catching him off guard and bumping his nose. "Lad, _I'm_ the doctor here, _I'll_ make the diagnosis. In the mean time, Riley," He swung his cane at Riley who gulped at the appearance of the butt just inches near his own nose. "Fix your shirt, you look ridiculous." Riley looked down and did a double-take at the lining showing on his side and the tag tapping his chin. He immediately begun to take off his shirt and rectify that. "And Tuff," He brought his cane back to Tuff in the exact same matter. "I'm going to need your help on this; like or not, I need you to hold the young lady down if that wound of hers is serious enough to require stitches to match the ones I got back when I was still a rookie and foolish enough to stick my hand inside a mad alligator's mouth." He brought his cane back down and walked over to the girl, adding ominously, "And _believe_ me, lad; that was not fun for either _me_ _or_ the _gator_."

Tuff gave Dr. Marlin an odd if not spooked out look, "Uhm . . . Why would you stick your hand inside an alligator's mouth?"

"I made a bet with a friend of mine that I could touch the gator's uvula and make him throw up the arm of the _original_ one who _tried_ to do it." Dr. Marlin replied.

Tuff and Riley, now pulling his right-side-and-front-out shirt on, looked at each other bewildered. "_Aaand_, what happened?"

Dr. Marlin kneeled down and removed his satchel before saying with a little proud smile at them. "Well . . . I _won_!"

Tuff and Riley gave each other another look. This time, it was speechless.

And they thought that Pigeon man they once met was weird . . .

**~X~**

His comrade came in from the trees before him. The Master was relieved. He had been gone for too long. His jaws were clenched tightly for some reason. His other comrades watched him with intrigue.

His comrade stopped just a few feet before him. He saw something sticking out of his mouth. The Master kneeled and held out his hand. His comrade eagerly opened his mouth and allowed the something to fall into his hand.

The Master squinted his eyes. It was cloth. A purple cloth with something darker staining the corner of it. But whose was it?

He brought it to his nose and sniffed curiously. Sea water . . . Raw fish . . . . And _blood_.

The Master's eyes widened. He felt a smile growing on his face. His face stung once again from the width of the smile.

It was _her_. His game. This was _her_ blood staining it.

She was close. And, judging the blood covering this cloth, she was _weak_. _Perfect_.

He looked down at his comrade. Smiling proudly, he patted him on the head, earning a pleased rumble. "Well done, comrade. Well done." His comrade barked.

He stood up and held the cloth up for the rest of his comrades to see. They begun growling and barking. They were getting excited. That was good for them. Good for the Master.

"Get ready, comrades . . ." He said, his hunger was clear in his voice. "The hunt has only _begun_!"

She would be his soon enough . . .

* * *

**ME: Uh-oh! As if Cassie weren't in enough trouble! DX**

**I would like to consider this a sort of an early Mother's Day gift to all those moms out there on this website; YOU ALL ARE AWESOME!**

**'****Till next time!**


	5. The Clashing of Waves: Act I, Part IV

**_Chapter 5._**

**_The_**

**_Clashing_**

**_Of_**

**_Waves;_**

**_Act I,_**

**_Part IV_**

* * *

_"__There's a stranger in my bed,  
There's a pounding in my head,  
Glitter all over the room,  
Pink flamingos in the pool,_

_I smell like a mini-bar,  
DJ's passed out in the yard,  
Barbie's on the barbeque,  
This a hickey or a bruise,_

_Pictures of last night_  
_Ended up online,_  
_I'm screwed!_  
_Oh well!_

_It's a blacked out blur,  
But I'm pretty sure it ruled,  
Damn!_

_Last Friday night,_  
_Yeah, we danced on tabletops,_  
_And we took too many shots,_  
_Think we kissed but I forgot,_

_Last Friday night,_  
_Yeah, we maxed our credit cards,_  
_And got kicked out of the bar_  
_So we hit the boulevard,_

_Last Friday night_  
_We went streaking in the park,_  
_Skinny dipping in the dark,_  
_Then had a ménage à trios,_

_Last Friday night  
Yeah I think we broke the law,  
Always say we're gonna stop!  
Op-oh-oh . . ._

_This Friday night_  
_Do it all again!_  
_This Friday night_  
_Do it all again . . ."_

_"__Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" – Katy Perry_

**~X~**

"Strange deaths in the woods?" Tuff repeated the words of the doctor sitting next to him.

Dr. Marlin nodded, nibbling on the crackers that were opened from the package set beside him. "_Mhmph,_ indeed . . ." His buck teeth chittered and crunched each cracker at time, never pausing as he continued, "It's quickly become a common occurrence on this island; people who go _anywhere_ near the woods after sundown are taken, made missing for weeks on end until one day their remains are discovered, sometimes still in one piece and other times scattered and ripped apart like some poor child's doll. Whatever is behind all this clearly had a grudge to settle with these poor people, only strange thing is that the guards can't find a connection, it's almost all at random. No one can make heads or tails out of it."

Tuff and Riley looked at him, completely stunned.

The girl would be alright. Although that was debatable at first given her condition; Dr. Marlin, after _some_ struggle and a _lot_ of help from Tuff and Riley when asked, and almost an hour and a half later, he had almost successfully managed to disinfect, stitch and bandage her side, leaving her with three large stitches and almost three rolls of gauze wrapped around her side and respectfully hidden underneath the blanket now covering her bare chest. Her ripped shirt now lay discarded on the side of her along with the long blue and yellow-striped sleeves they found on her arms and legs and the small knife holstered of her leg that had almost shaved the side of Tuff's chin, hair _and_ skin, earlier.

Tuff was thankful that Dr. Marlin suggested adding a curtain over the tarp so they girl would have some privacy when she woke up, Riley would never let him hear the end of it if he had been the one to do it. Fortunately, they had a spare blanket that was large enough to act as a big enough and thick enough curtain that would give her plenty of cool shade and space for her, which was then ceremoniously hung and clipped onto the top of the tarp.

Tired and exhausted from the surprisingly hard work he had completed, Dr. Marlin then asked them if they had anything he could eat before heading back to town – _At my old age, you need to eat constantly just to keep from falling asleep where you're sitting!_ – To which, Riley immediately produced three small and _totally_ dead birds from behind his back. Tuff and Dr. Marlin were quick to ask where he got them before he simply replied, "You don't wanna know."

They both were tempted to ask where he was even _keeping_ them . . . But then decided they _were_ probably better off following his advice.

Willing to take anything that wasn't suspiciously obtained, he happily accepted the saltine crackers he was now munching greedily on while Riley started to cook up the birds for him and Tuff. As he worked on his fourteenth cracker, Dr. Marlin made the strange comment about "finally being able to fix up a body that was still _living_ for a change!"

This then sparked the rather strange and rather morbid topic of discussion that the Doctor and the Luck Brothers were having now.

"How long has this been going on?" Riley asked him from where he sat next to the now lit fire pit, now roasting three de-feathered birds that were being cooked carefully under his watch.

"By the end of the week, it'll be . . ." He munched on his twentieth-first, second, third cracker, sprinkling crumbs onto the handkerchief set on his knee. ". . . Two months and five weeks."

Tuff bit back a gasp. "Wha –? This has been going on for nearly three months and no one's done _anything_?"

"Believe me, lad, the guards' are doing everything in their power to get some sense out of things; but without any evidence, it's hard to get any decent solutions as to what's causing all of this." Dr. Marlin crunched out. "The one of the only things that they _can_ gather, however, is whoever is doing this is clearly _not_ _human_."

"How so?" Tuff asked.

Dr. Marlin polished off the last cracker and crumpled up the empty wrapper causally before tossing it into the fire. "Well, for one thing, this killer has the utter ruthlessness of an animal and no sense of humanity whatsoever. It would easy to suspect a Were-beast or a Pandorian or even a Pangolin if the incision of claw marks on the bodies matched, but this island isn't big enough to accommodate all creatures of that size, so we're not able to draw many suspects from that list." He watched the paper wrapper curl and blacken in the small flames of the fire, his expression neutral. "Another thing that they can get straight is that it's definitely no human involved with the killer; by which I mean, an animal trainer or such. There's no sense of control shown on the remains, everything's strewn about in a manic fashion . . . I remember one corpse where their heart was found in a gopher hole and their head was ripped open like a bag of grains."

Tuff and Riley paled slightly at those words. "Okay, _that's_ kinda creepy . . . Even for _me_." Riley said weakly.

Dr. Marlin nodded in grim agreement. "It's not exactly favorable to me either, lad, and _I'm_ the one who has to put the corpse back in _almost_ decent condition afterwards for the funeral."

Tuff frowned. "Sounds like you've got a lot of problems on your hands."

Dr. Marlin nodded again. "Problems without answers, unfortunately. The truth to the matter is that the guards' will take any suspect as it comes, even a demon will do if one reared its head."

"Are you sure it's not a demon?" Riley asked. "All this definitely sounds like the work of one."

"Like I said, without evidence, it's hard to make sense of the situation." Dr. Marlin shook his head, his face growing heavy with burden. "And now with this, the outcome of all this is growing even vaguer."

"Huh?" Tuff and Riley looked at Dr. Marlin. "What do you mean?" Tuff asked, curious.

Dr. Marlin crossed his arms. "Riley," Riley hummed in response. "You said that on the way to town, you were almost bit by a wolf, right?"

Tuff jumped in shock at his words, "What?!" He then turned to Riley, hurt written in his face. "You were almost _attacked_ by a wolf? _Why_ didn't you _tell_ me?"

Riley shrugged calmly, used to his instant panic. "I didn't see the need to; it didn't hurt me, all it did was just snap at me a little and run off. Hardly anything to get upset over."

"On the contrary, lad, quite the opposite." Dr. Marlin said, gaining both of their attention. "The third thing that was made clear on the murders is that the friends and relatives of the victims say that the last thing they mentioned seeing before their disappearance and death was a _wolf_."

Tuff and Riley's blood instantly ran cold. A wolf being the last thing they see before they die? How could that be – Wait a minute.

Riley shot to his feet, his green eyes growing wide with fear. "Wait a sec, doc, if that's the case, then . . . Then am _I_ the next victim?"

Tuff felt his heart leap into his throat at his brother's words. _No_ . . .

What Dr. Marlin said then surprised the both of them with a light sigh and the wave of his hand. "No, lad, it's alright, you don't have to worry. The victims are all locals, people that lived on this island all their lives, people who would give whoever's doing this plenty of time to acquire their scents; people who are just passing through would've just been a waste of time for him. You'll be fine."

A stunned Riley blinked at him for a few moments before falling on his behind, a wilted smile on his smile. He let out a breath of relief as he said, "Whew! Heh, _man_, for a sec, I was worried. Thought I was gonna die without at least getting any."

Tuff looked at him in confusion. "Getting what?"

Riley's face fell and he waved him off. "Ah, nevermind."

Dr. Marlin gave Riley a bemused smile. "Nice to see you can joke about it, lad. Wish I could say the same for the victims." Riley started at that then looked away in shame. "Besides, it may not be _you_ that we need to worry about."

"What do you mean, doctor?" Tuff asked.

"When you've examined as many bodies as I've have for a while, you end up recalling details that you wished you haven't." Dr. Marlin linked his fingers together. "Such as the physical appearance of the death wounds, like the size, width and the cause of the horrid damage." Dr. Marlin paused to let this sink in before stating, "And, as much as it pains me to say it, your young lady friend has _exact_ _same_ **_injury_** that matches the beginning structure of each wound that I've found on the murder victims."

They both gasped sharply. _WHAT?_

"You're kidding/Are you positive?" Riley and Tuff both asked at once, Tuff spoke alone the next second, saying, "There's no way that can be the case! You just said yourself that this monster doesn't attack newcomers."

Dr. Marlin rubbed his hand over his face in frustration. "_Believe_ me, I don't understand it myself, but that gash in her side resembles the one I've seen well too many times in the past two months **_exactly_**." He tried to keep his tone calm but the brothers could clearly hear the anger at the perpetrator simmering in his voice. "But I'm happy to say that this girl was lucky; aside from the visible trauma set into the muscles and veins of her side, the injury itself isn't deep enough to cause any real damage to the girl's vital organs and inner workings. Judging by the signs, despite taking enough that would cause enough blood to pool without summoning any rabid sea-beasts to finish her off, – _Thank god for that! _– She managed to get away by the skin of her teeth."

Tuff's eyebrows raised the tiniest bit at the expression. _Teeth_ . . . A thought then came to him. A memory. An item of which was _still_ resting in the pocket of his vest.

He tucked his fingers inside his pocket and pulled out the yellow, Swiss-cheese holed tooth, now nearly covered completely in dried blood. "Hey, doctor?" He held out the tooth towards Dr. Marlin, who immediately looked at it in interest. "Would it help anything if we told you that we found _this_ lodged in that girl's side when we pulled her out of the water?"

Dr. Marlin took the tooth and examined it closely. "_Hmm _. . . _Intriguing_ . . ." He muttered, turning the tooth over and over in his claws, carefully as to not to add too much pressure that would cause it to break. Looking up at Tuff, he asked, "And you're _sure_ that you found this in that young lady's side?"

Tuff and Riley both nodded briskly in response. "Yep." Riley grunted. "Saw the thing myself and Tuff was the one who pulled it out."

Dr. Marlin hummed brightly at that. He cast another glance at the tooth before breaking out into an excited smile. "Lads, I think you've both have just given me something to _work_ with!"

The both of them grew less rigid at Dr. Marlin's happy tone. "So, you'll be able to identify it?" Riley asked, hopefully.

"What? Me? No." Tuff and Riley instantly deflated at the simple answer. They quickly recovered when the Doctor then added, "But I know someone who can." He took the handkerchief off his lap, shook off the crumbs and delicately wrapped the tooth in it, setting it in his own pocket with an air of new-found determination. "I have a friend over in the next town who studies animal teeth and dentistry; I'll bring this over to him and see what I can find. Hopefully, maybe some _sense_ out of this mystery.

Tuff picked up his cane from where he had set it on the ground at his feet and handed it to him, which he accepted with a kind "Thank you." While getting to his feet. "In the meantime, you two need to watch that young lady over there. Make sure that she gets back on her feet. She may've seen the killer before she lost consciousness, so make sure that you question her about it as soon as she's well enough to take them."

"How long do you think that'll be?" Tuff asked him, inwardly hoping that her condition wouldn't be as severe as he claimed it wasn't.

Dr. Marlin put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm, well, due to losing all that blood and her small shape, she's definitely going to need plenty of food when she wakes up. Give her light and soft foods when she does; porridge, milk, water, light bread and the like if you have it to start out with. If you give her anything much richer or heavier than that, she's lightly to throw right back up and worsen her condition. No suspicious dead birds, _Riley_."

Riley winced at the Doctor's stern glance. "Uh . . . Duly noted." He smiled with a little weak chuckle.

"Also, if she was in the cold water as long as earlier this morning, she's going to be running a high fever and will be burning like a torch. She'll been shaking like a leaf so give her all the spare blankets that you can and make sure that at least _one_ of you is with her and at all times. Understand? She's important for more than just one reason, so make certain she's safe." Dr. Marlin stamped his cane against the ground, urgent and blunt in his order.

Both men nodded in understanding. They didn't need the doctor to tell them to keep her safe. They would never leave an injured woman alone who they couldn't help in good conscience. Especially Riley. Especially _Riley_. "We'll keep her safe, doc." Riley stated, seriousness totally etched in his features. "Don't worry, she's in good hands."

"Let's just hope that those "good" hands _don't_ go anywhere _not_ good like earlier today." Tuff quipped with arms crossed over his chest and a bland look on his face. Riley simply stuck his tongue out briefly at him.

Dr. Marlin rolled his eyes in good humor at the two and begun to walk away. "Alright. I better get going, if I can reach town before dark, I should be able to get to Little Oak Town by afternoon tomorrow."

"Do you want me to give you a ride, doc?" Riley offered to his back as the Doctor began to pick up his pace when reaching level ground.

Dr. Marlin visibly bristled at Riley's kind offer. Tuff swore he could hear him gulp nervously and see him make a cross over his heart before he called back somewhat shakily, "_No_ thank you, lad! I'll be fine by walking!" He tried to sound composed as he added, "At my old age, I need all the exercise that I can get! Otherwise I might as well already have a foot in the grave!"

". . . . You sure you don't have one in there _now_?" Riley asked him humorously before Tuff could elbow him in the ribs.

Dr. Marlin simply held up a hand in response while shouting back, "_Bye_ boys!"

The Sharkmen watched his back as he made his way down the cove, easily maneuvering around in the sand with his cane and his tail drifting silently behind him. After a couple of moments, Riley leaned over to Tuff and said, "You know what? I sort of like that old coot."

"Considering he didn't whack you again when he caught you staring at the girl's stomach while he was fixing her?" Tuff supplemented.

"You know, you're a real smartass, sometimes."

"Well, _one_ of us has to be."

"If that's it, then why aren't I it?"

"Oh, you're it, but only whenever you're completely blitzed and trying to impress a cute girl by talking down to a rather rugged street thug that's three times your size."

". . . . You're still mad at me about that one time over at Cuhuy Island, aren't ya?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny that."

**~X~**

He watched the sight before him quietly when he felt more like cracking bones in his anger. His comrades growled lowly with him as they watched as well.

His game was just a few feet from him. She was _defenseless_. She was _weak_. She was _his_ for the _taking_.

All he had to do was step out of these bushes that he was hiding in and take what was _his_.

His comrades were growling silently below him, almost like they heard his thoughts.

All he had to due was step forward. But he couldn't.

Not with those _sharks _there with her.

He had expected them to leave with the old rat. Instead they stayed.

He growled himself this time.

Those sharks were trying to take his game. They had found her and now they wanted to do what they pleased with her.

They were **_mocking_** him. Just like _her_. **_Insulting_** The Master.

He ground his teeth. He made no mind of the one that he was missing in his jaw.

They. Would. **_Pay_**.

But not **_now_**. Not **_yet_**.

"Patience comrades." He patted one of his comrades on the head to calm him down. The rest of them quieted at the sound of his voice. "The Hunt is still on. Good things come to those who wait."

He grinned his feral smile. Good things would indeed come soon. Very, _very _soon . . .

**~X~**

Three days went by in a blur.

At least that's what it seemed like to Tuff as he found himself at the bedside of the _still_ unconscious girl while his brother had gone to go find some food by the cove _again_. Wringing water from a soaked rag, folding it and placing it carefully on the girl's forehead _again_. Waiting patiently for her to wake up and tell him her name **_again_**.

He just didn't know what else he could do.

Dr. Marlin had left behind medicine for him and Riley to give to the girl shivering under three thick blankets below him; they were dried out herbs and roots that were to be boiled in hot water before mixed in with tea. They had medicinal properties in them that would dull the pain from her side which they had to make her drink every five hours. They must be working because the girl hadn't shown any signs of pain and seemed to sleeping peacefully. _So_ peacefully in fact that a few times Tuff pressed his fingers against her wrist to make sure her pulse was still going. Apparently the medicine also had some powerful sleeping properties as well.

Tuff made a mental note to ask Dr. Marlin if it was safe for insomniacs. It probably wasn't, but it never hurts to ask. Right? Right.

His biggest worries were mainly concerning her fever. Even after three days, it still had not gone down. Each time he put a hand to her forehead, it was like touching a burning hot coal. He cheeks and nose were still colored dark blue and her ears were starting to darken along with them, flicking occasionally for some reason. She begun to sweat around the afternoon of the second day and her breathing grew erratic each time she coughed which was quickly becoming frequently. Her hands were beginning to grow clammy as well and felt as cold as ice when Tuff tried carefully rubbing them to get the circulation flowing through the veins. She sometimes whispered something when she tried speaking, but her voice was so weak all Tuff could make out was "_. . . Vince . . ._" and/or "_. . . yellow eyes . . ._"

Tuff couldn't help but wonder on whether or not if Vince had yellow eyes.

He shook his head after a few moments. He doubted it. When she mentioned Vince's name back when they had just found her, she obviously sounded rather close to him. Whoever this "Vince" was to this girl, he must've been important to her.

Which means that he was most likely looking for her.

Which also means that if he were to show up right now and see this girl topless, feverish and with a huge bandage on her side with a sharkman holding her hand, it was **_not_** going to end well. As per usual.

Tuff groaned to himself. Until then, he and Riley had to due what they could. Even if that was just feeding her roots and herbs through tea and most likely doing almost next to nothing to help bring her fever down.

Tuff sighed for probably the umpteenth time in three days.

He just hoped that this girl wouldn't be like –

Tuff's throat instantly tightened at that abruptly cut-off ugly memory. He felt his eyes watering a little, gnawing his sharp teeth on his lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

No. No! He wouldn't go down that road. Not again. Not after all these years. It was just the guilt of what was going on right now, that's all. He shoved those thoughts into the back of his mind as hard as he could. He couldn't be losing it at a time like this. He needed to focus.

He looked back down at the girl. He had hoped for at least some small sign of change while he had dealt with his near . . . _Meltdown_. As expected, nothing. The girl continued to shiver and sweat and cough, her tail slowly curling on its own, taking on the same shifty cloudy, river design like before. The fever was holding a tight grip on her and was refusing to let go, making Tuff want more than ever to find out who or _what_ had done this to her so he could track it down and make it regret ever bringing this on her.

He was silent as he reached out and took her hand into his again. Her hands were still so _cold_ . . . Lost in thought, his thumb began to rub small circles onto the back of it, hoping it would bring some good this time.

"Alright . . ." He started, looking down at her sleeping, dark blue face. ". . . The good doctor's given you some medicine and . . . And you're safe and sound here with me and Riley to protect you . . . But that all depends on your opinion of Sharkmen, I guess . . ." His grip tightened a little at his words but his hold was still gentle enough to not hurt her hand. ". . . All you need to do is just wake up. You got to fight this fever and just wake up . . . Your friend Vince is still out there, right? You got to wake up if you want to find him . . ."

She didn't respond other than giving a light, tired moan. Tuff bit back another sigh, feeling negativity scratching at the corner of his thoughts, trying hard to get in. He tried hard to push it back like certain other . . . _Thoughts_ that he'd rather not discuss, mentally or otherwise. He had to keep up the hope. Though usually that was Riley's job and he was certainly a whole lot _better_ at it than Tuff. Not that he was a pessimist, but still . . .

"Did you freak out earlier because you knew that Riley and I were sharks?" He asked her, feeling more like he was asking himself. "I certainly remember you nailing Riley in the face twice; the first time with your tail and the second with your fist." He gave a quiet chuckle at the said memories. "I have to say, for a tiny thing of a girl, you throw a pretty mean left hook."

He was trying to make conversation with her, in a way to try and get her to wake up. If it was working the girl didn't really comment on it. Instead, she coughed rather harshly, still suffering from the raw fire Tuff knew that she was feeling in her throat. Once that was done, she started to tremble violently again, whimpering weakly the same way as before.

With his free hand, Tuff brought it to her forehead and brushed her bangs out of her face, smoothing them back like he had done on the beach. That made Tuff think; what the heck had come over him at the beach? Why did he say what he had said to her as though he knew her? It just didn't make sense. It was like he had caught sight of her eyes just that one time and _BAM_! Nothing else mattered. It was just him and her. The only two in the whole Archipelago.

All of it was just too confusing. What was even more confusing was that it felt kind of . . . _Nice_. More than nice, actually, if anything it was . . . It was . . . _Wonderful_.

Completely unlike anything he had ever known before in his life. Which made it all the more confusing.

Tuff shushed her silently as she gave two short coughs, her hand clenching in his grip. "Hey, hey, _shh_, take it easy, it's okay." He adjusted the rag on her forehead again and gave her a small smile, despite knowing she wouldn't see it. "Take it easy . . . Don't let this fever get to you. All you need to do is get better so you can wake up and tell us who the _world_ you are." He chuckled silently once again. "Seriously, if we keep calling you the girl, I think I'm going to lose it."

He was horrible at jokes, Riley had told him a million times over the years that they've been traveling together that he could never tell one if he meant to. But it never stopped him from at least trying.

Feeling his smile fall, he begun to stare at her. All he wanted was a sign. A sign saying that she was listening. He would take anything at the point. Anything at all . . . "_Please_ _. . ._" He whispered sadly to her. "_. . . Please wake up . . . Show me those pretty orange eyes of yours again . . ._"

He would take anything. _Anything_ at all . . .

A rustling came from behind him. He turned his head and met with Riley's sheepish grin. He was kneeling on one knee and trying hard to look as though he wasn't just eavesdropping, even thought they both knew he was; that was all to easy to tell by him rubbing the back of his neck and refusing to meet his eyes. Tuff chose to ignore it, however, shaking his head lightly and simply asking, "How's it coming?"

Riley drawled out as he scratched his cheek, "_Ehhh_ . . . Could be going better. Apparently fish _can_ smell a shark coming from a mile away." Tuff gave a small smile at that. "I wanted to just dive in and just catch the little suckers but first I had to try and get your fishing pole back from that turtle."

Tuff's smile immediately fell. "What turtle?"

"This pretty fat and lazy turtle further down the cove who took your fishing pole when we met sleeping beauty over here." Riley gestured briefly to the girl whose hand Tuff was _still __holding_.

He quickly let it go and fully turned around to face Riley, "What do you mean it took my fishing pole?"

"I told you something took it _days_ ago but you forgot all about it!" Riley clarified.

"You never said anything about a turtle." Tuff stated with a frown. Riley simply rolled his eyes at him. "Oh, you know, what, nevermind about that, did you get it back?"

Riley gnawed at his lip a little before he said, "Well, I did but, uh . . ." He reached back behind him and revealed something that made Tuff's heart drop; a giant jumbled mess of tangled and dripping fishing wire hanging from a bit of obviously chewed on wood and a hook bent into a deranged loop. It stuck heavily of fish and seaweed and Tuff had a bad feeling that whatever was dripping from it was _not_ supposed to be edible. "I don't think the warranty's gonna cover this."

Tuff's head fell with a groan.

This was going to be a _long_ day.

**~X~**

_Howls sounding her –_

_Branches snapping as she broke through them –_

_Her screaming as she felt him coming closer –_

_He was so close now –_

_His teeth –_

_His eyes –_

_He was going to get her –_

_He was going to get her! –_

_No!_

_GASP!_

She jack-hammered out of the bed, her heart beating madly. She took in breathes of air and let them out like she was drowning . . . . But didn't she already?

Her hands flew to her face, making sure she was still solid. She was. Her head then began to spin around as she tried to take in her surroundings. It was dark and cool in here. Oh maker, she wasn't dead, was she?

. . . . . . Well, she was in pain, so she guessed she wasn't. Unless she was in hell. She shook at that horrid thought.

She saw a sliver of light from out of the corner of her eye. Turning towards it, she put a hand out and reached for it. Her finger tips touched fabric. A curtain, maybe? Yes.

Impulsively, she raised it up and peeked out . . . Only to immediately bring it back down after realizing two things; one, those two sharks that she . . . _Almost_ certainly remembered were out there, and two . . . She was **_without_** her shirt.

Looking down and seeing the one, _two_, _three_(?) blankets piled at her waist, she snatched them up and brought almost all of them over her shoulders and chest. When she was sure no skin was exposed other than on her face and hands, her mind begun ringing with one simple question.

_'__WHAT THE __**HECK**__ IS GOING ON?'_

* * *

**ME: HURRAY, ONCE MORE! SHE FINALLY AWAKES! Unfortunately, we'll have to end things here for now, so until next time! XD**


	6. The Clashing of Waves: Act I, Part V

**_Chapter 6._**

**_The_**

**_Clashing_**

**_Of_**

**_Waves_**

**_Act I,_**

**_Act V_**

* * *

_"__It started on Thursday,  
At seven or maybe eight;  
You crashed into my world with a boom!_

_You came over as a guest,  
I said I liked you and I confessed;  
By ten o' clock I was making fun of you_

_You stayed for a while,  
Then left with a smile._

_But at least I made you happy,  
You make me happy too.  
It's kinda cheesy to say but . . ._

_You're everything I want . . ._  
_When I'm with you all the hurting stops,_  
_You're the hand that fits my glove;_

_And I'll never replace you  
'Cause I'll never find love so true . . ."_

_"__Everything I Want" – Steve Rushton_

**~X~**

'Okay, Miss Blue, calm down. Calm _down_. Let's take a minute and get the facts straight before you start to panic; you are _shirtless_, on some _island_ that you don't _know_ about, you're have _no_ idea if Vince is nearby _or_ not and there are a couple of _sharks_ _outside_ this tent that you don't _know_ _either_ who look a whole _lot_ alike . . .'

The girl felt her ears flick once, twice, then drop along with her mouth, her tail curling around her body like a cocoon, her tail fin forming a scrambled, tangled pattern.

Okay, clearly, trying to give herself good pep talk in what seemed to be a dire situation; was definitely **_not_** her strong suit.

She almost let out a shout of pain when she tried to straighten her back a little too quickly and sent a boulder-sized jolt of pain shooting through her; she stopped herself barely in the nick of time, slapping her hand over her mouth and biting down hard on the inside of her cheek, hoping that the men outside didn't hear her.

There she realized another horrible part to all this. _Everything_ hurt _everywhere_.

It hurt to breathe, it hurt to move, everything just _hurt_.

She couldn't do anything without pain splicing through her.

The inside of her neck felt like she had swallowed pin needles, her chest like she had been clubbed with blunt hard sticks, her insides like they swelled up far beyond their natural sizes, her head like someone had taken it and kicked it around like a ball. Her side hurt worst of all; if she squirmed even the tiniest bit, something that felt remarkably close to liquid fire tore through, making her want to scream out in agony with her already incredibly sore throat.

This was a nightmare. She had never felt pain like this before.

Not even when a berserk Vince had . . . No, this was totally beyond what had happened then.

Back then, _that_ was an accident, but _this_ . . . No, whoever did this had _totally_ and **_intentionally_** tried to _kill_ her.

But who had –

_Howls –_

_Stomps –_

_Screams –_

_Teeth –_

Her heart skipped in fright. She clutched her head at the brutal force of memories and shut her eyes tightly, briefly ignoring the spiking pain in her temple. She felt heat wash over her and pile on to the agony in her side.

Her side . . . The wound . . . Something had chased her in the woods . . . Something _big_ . . . Something . . _Scary_ . . .

But what? What was chasing her?

Nothing answered. Everything, save _teeth – screaming – howling – running – falling to her death –_ Was covered in black. It was like the strings in her memory were cut and retied to other ruined strands, going nowhere and dripping down massive holes. In other words, she had _nothing_.

She let her hands fall into her lap. She blew air through her lips, frustrated. Great. Injured, clueless and, odds are, friendless. Now what was she going to do? That question in mind, she quietly reached out and lifted the curtain once again, this time by the corner and much more slowly than before.

Once she got enough light, she carefully peeked out in what she hoped was the most in-obvious way possible, watching the two sharks from earlier curiously; one was standing up with hands behind his head, his posture relaxed and impish. He went on about something about 'lazy turtles' and 'the inconsistency of fishing poles' with what she thought was a smile; the other sat on a log before him, his face tensed and aggravated as he held . . . _Something _in his lap that was currently being pulled, yanked and restrung by his hands with very little success. His own frustration was showing in his voice, ranting about 'stupid _frikin'_ irony' and 'someone _up_ there having it in for them' to which the first shark abruptly chortled at.

She raised an eyebrow at the sight. Hmm . . . Not quite the blood-thirsty sharks, she was expecting.

Still, though . . . If there's one thing that she's learned from traveling from Vince, it's one thing; nothing is ever as it seems.

Patting her cheeks, she started to look around for her shirt. It had to be here somewhere, right? She spotted it, rumpled in a pile just a couple inches from her pillow, picked it up and looked it over briefly before frowning. Oh, _perfect_.

Her blue and light green top was _ruined_ to say the least; the zipper tag had been broken, the actual zipper itself halting midway between the area of the solar plexus and the stomach. Her face flushed momentarily at the idea of her chest being out in the open. The right side now a huge, tattered gaping hole ringed by what was no doubt her blood.

She furrowed her eyebrows at the dark ring. Just how much had she been hurt . . .?

She decided not to think too much on that last part. Ignorance is bliss, after all. She put on the top; albeit she did it at a procrastinating painfully slow pace, her wound protesting in discomfort to her movements and making her wince and bit her lip to avoid crying out. She attempted to pull up the remaining part of the zipper, only to growl when it stuck in place just below her chest. Wonderful. Now, she looked like an idiot.

Oh, well. She'd have to worry about that later. Right now . . .

She glanced over, seeing a small bowl full of water and a few rags. A familiar hilt rested just below it until she picked it up and swiftly unsheathed it. The blade of her knife glinted in a soft brightness from the small trail of light that leaked through the curtain.

She had to acquaint herself with her new hosts.

**~X~**

Tuff let out a sound of impatience as he pulled at one string of the intricate mess in his lap, instantly tightening a large complicated knot, further making an even bigger and even more ridiculous puzzle than before, and also ensnaring one of his fingers. He tried pulling at it with his free hand . . . Then shaking his hand . . . And then just shaking his whole arm in a desperate effort to get his finger back. After a moment or so of this, he glared at the wad of strings and sticks. No luck.

Riley watched this with a twitching smile. His cheeks were puffed out from a discernible effort to not laugh at his twin's misfortune. Tuff saw this as he glanced up at him and frowned sourly. "Well, I'm happy to see that _one_ of us is having a good laugh about this."

A snort escaped from Riley's mouth before bringing a hand up and saying/chuckling, "Oh, c'mon, Tuff, you gotta admit that this is kind of funny."

"_How_ is this funny?" Tuff said, annoyed while continuing to pull at random strings.

Riley took in a breath to force back his giggles before he said, "Well, for one thing, you were _so_ dependent on that stupid thing to help us catch lunch earlier, when in actuality it did _zip_ for its handler, namely _you_," Tuff rolled his eyes when Riley pointed at him. "And afterwards, you totally forgot _all_ about it until _I_ brought it up and got it back after the said turtle from earlier after it, _clearly_, made a giant _loogie_ out of it. Which brings us back to now with _you_ getting yourself _stuck_ with a wad of spit and string and _me_, saying, "I _told_ you we should've just gone fishing by **_hand_**"." He then held up and shook his hands in Tuff's now irritated face to prove his point.

Tuff pushed his hands away. "You and I _both_ know that if we did that, you would've taken the fish, _assuming_ that you hadn't had _scared_ all of them off with your wild thrashing," Riley frowned this time at the blunt statement. "And just eaten it _whole_, bones and all. So, not only would've just effectively choked yourself but also gotten a _bad_ case of _indigestion_ and most likely _food_ _poisoning_. All of that as an end result, _me_ having to find food for _me_ and _you_ while you lie in bed all day with a sore stomach and a fever, complaining about _I_ being _right_ and _you_ being a _bonehead_!" He stood up to look Riley in the eye, who reeled back each time Tuff leaned in during his speech.

Riley feigned a hurt look at Tuff. "You know, Tuff, that hurts. That _really_ hurts. Your trust in me around delicious fish is _horrifying_." He declared in mock shock, suddenly pressing a hand to his forehead in dramatic distress.

Tuff put a hand to his hip, unamused. "Says the Sharkman who ate an entire plate of fish pie by himself in one sitting."

Riley dropped the act at that, saying, "Hey, in my defense, you said you weren't even hungry."

"Riley, that's not the point –"

"Hey, _you're_ the one who can't take a joke –"

"I can too! But don't change the subject –"

"I'm not changing it, I just –"

"Riley, we're being chased off by islands all over the archipelago on a daily basis –"

"Look, I know you've had it up to _here_ but you need to _relax_ –"

"–Constant womanizing and flirting and sudden marriage proposals to _random_ women, your incapability to –"

"–I mean, seriously, Tuff, would it kill you just to take a breather every once in a while? It's not like _every_ _single_ island we come to have an angry mob just _waiting_ for us –"

"– Me _always_ having to try and explain ourselves to the natives while you go _gallivanting_ off –"

"– Don't need to be so hung strung all the time –"

"Uhm, excuse me?"

"– With _no_ thought to what I think about it, whatsoever –"

"– I'm just trying to have a little _fun_ –"

"Excuse me?"

"– You have _no_ idea what kind of pressure I'm under sometimes –"

"– You're always playing the Pout-Fish –"

"_Excuse me_!?"

"– I just try to keep us from turning to fish bait –"

"– Hey, don't look at me _that_ way –"

Their conversation was cut off when the tip of knife then made itself known by tapping Riley's shoulder from behind him.

Riley and Tuff blinked at this briefly before turning their heads.

Their eyes widened at the now dressed, now non-feverish and now _scowling_ blue-skinned, blonde-haired girl, now holding a blanket protectively over her shoulders with one hand and baring her small knife right towards Riley's face threateningly with the other. Her tail was raised high behind her and baring a pipe-like, blotchy pattern, almost glowing and both brothers swore they almost saw little crackles of electricity coming off it.

Tuff and Riley looked at each other. Strange girl behind them? Baring a knife and a possibly lethal tail? Not looking at all happy? _Oh, boy_.

Riley immediately went to action; He spun around, turning on the charm with his most award-winning smile. "Well, good afternoon, Sleeping Beauty! Nice to see you're finally up! I hope you slept well –" The tip of her knife suddenly poked him right at the tip of his nose, Riley's smile instantly fell and he looked at the knife with wide, wary eyes. "- _Allllright_ then, I'll take that as a "No"."

The girl didn't immediately respond. She looked at the both of them, before her own eyes grew big when she did a double-take at their faces. " . . . . _Huh._" She cocked her head a little, one ear going down while the other stayed up in a way that the both of them couldn't help but find adorable. "Identical twin sharks . . . That's a new one . . ." She said more to herself than them.

Regardless, Tuff couldn't help the perplexed blink he gave her. "We beg your pardon?"

The girl jumped a little in place, both her ears flying up with her surprise. She clearly didn't notice that she had said what she had outloud but that didn't deter her from pushing her knife further into Riley's nose, making him gulp before she begun, "Nevermind! Alright, you two! I want answers and I want them right _here_ and right _now_! _Who_ are you and _where_ am I?"

"Uhh, any order you want those questions?" Riley grinned in an effort to put her at ease, never taking his eyes off the knife.

"Yes, NOW!" The girl pushed on, the knife making Riley's nose push backwards, exposing his nostrils.

Riley's eyes grew wider at the sharp tip edging into his skin. "Whoa, okay, okay, take it easy, it's okay," He took half a step back to decrease the pressure between the knife and his nose as he spoke. "It's okay, I promise, my brother here and I aren't going to hurt you. You don't have to be scared. _Although_, I have to admit," The girl raised an eyebrow at him when he started to lean in closer to her with a sly smile and a suave tone. "You _do_ look rather _cute_ when you're scared, but not _nearly_ as _beautiful_ when you're angry. Not that I'm too surprised with those cute little fins on your ears –"

The girl was only thrown off by his flirting for only a second. The next second, her mouth twisted into a deep frown and this time held the knife towards the apple of his throat, cutting him off and making him go wide-eyed once again and hold his hands up in defense. "Don't you try and distract me! I'm serious here!" She snapped, her orange eyes bright with anger. "What _Island_ is this?"

Riley felt himself growing nervous from her hard glance but still readily answered her question, "Uh, Pound Island?"

Her own eyes grew wide with her tail, now a sporadic drain of blue and white, coming around to her front by some unconscious will. "Pound Island? But . . . B-but just . . ." She finally lowered her knife and clutched at her shoulders, forgetting about the knife which edge went just near her ear, her expression stating utter confusion. "J-just yesterday, I was . . . I thought we were at _Blue_ Island!"

Tuff, who had been watching his brother in emotions from annoyance to worry, stepped out from behind Riley and said, "You mean that tiny, little island off the coast? You must've had an outdated map when you went there because that island's been abandoned for _years_. It's easy to think Pound Island and Blue Island are one and the same because they used to be connected. It might _still_ be but no one's really said anything about it."

She put a hand over her mouth, turning somewhat pale like before. Tuff saw this and immediately came over to her, his tone fearing that she was about to pass out again as he said, "But, don't- Don't worry, you're safe here! Whatever attacked you isn't going to hurt you as long as we're here to protect you."

The girl, almost like she had turned deaf at his reassurances, shook her head fearfully despite the on-going headache in her head and whirled around to face him. "No, you don't understand!" Tuff blinked at the force of fear in her voice. "It's not _me_ I'm worried about! I have to get going! I need to –" She twisted around only to stop dead and bend over hissing in pain, her knife dropping to the ground and the now free hand flying to her side.

Tuff almost slapped himself. Her side! She was still injured! He came closer to her and put a careful hand on her back and holding the other in front of her, being ready to catch her if she fell forward. "Hey! Hey, take it easy!" He admonished her gently. "You're still pretty injured and you just woke up from a fever. You need to be careful or those stitches in your side will open up and you'll bleed out like crazy again."

Cassie's ears perked up at his words. What?

_"__Riley! Be careful! She's bleeding out like crazy!"_ A voice then rang out in her head.

A familiar voice. A voice that sounded a lot similar to . . .

She looked up. Slowly but surely, she locked eyes with the Sharkman before her who stared down at her in confusion and worry.

As she looked at him closely, something began to itch inside of her mind. What was it? "You . . ."

It came to her. It was a voice. The only good thing about all that pain she had gone through, all the darkness, all that fear was the voice that had brought her back.

_His_ voice.

". . . You're _it_, aren't you?" She mumbled to Tuff, slowly straightening back up but never taking her eyes away from him.

Tuff, now completely lost, blinked at her again. "Uhm, I'm sorry?"

"The voice." She stated, not noticing how odd and distant her voice sounded as she went on. "You're the one who said I was "bleeding like crazy" . . . And when everything went dark, you brought me back to life. You told me to "just breathe". . . Didn't you?"

Tuff's breath hitched. His heart sped up a little at the memory; her still and dying from lack of oxygen as he madly gave everything he could to save her. He had hoped that some part of her would hear him as he practically screamed at her to live. He still felt the pain from waiting and fear of her never waking up.

Obviously, she did, but he hadn't quite known what else she had heard from him and Riley before that. She heard even more than he had originally thought, despite the dark cloud of sickness she was under. He couldn't help but think of how remarkable that was.

Now here she was, in front of him, alive and breathing, just like he had begged her to do, asking him if he was the one responsible for saving her.

He did what any man did when confronted like that; he instantly grew a bashful red on his cheeks, took his hands off her quickly but respectively and held them in front of him in protest as he nervously chuckled. "Oh, it was nothing, really! I just did what anyone else would've done in that situation! I mean, if it were anyone else, we would've done the same! Not that we wanted you to be someone else– I mean, we're happy it's you and not someone else– No wait, I mean –!" At this point he was just point blank rambling, growing redder by the minute and, when she finally noticed it, his thick accent making it harder and harder for either the girl or even Riley to understand him.

The girl watched him and couldn't help but smile at him. Despite her earlier notions of how she thought he and his brother were dangerous, like most people would if they shared their experiences with Were-Sharks, she found his sudden air of shyness kind of cute.

As such, she figured she'd help him by raising a hand and pressing her fingertips to his mouth, stopping him flat and freezing him mid-sentence. He blinked at her, surprised by her actions but keeping silent. Taking this as a good sign, she then added with a small smile. "So . . . I think it's safe to say that _you_ were the one who kept watch over me while I was unconscious and sick, right?"

Tuff brought his hands down, keeping one up to brush his right bangs away from his face before sliding it down to rub the back of his neck, looking away from her and clearing his throat. "I, uhm, I may've, erm, _dropped _in every now and again." He responded, modest.

At this, Riley then chimed in, "Hah! Are you kidding?" To the girl, he stated, "After we found a doctor to get that side of yours checked out, he hardly left your side for a minute! I've _never_ seen him looked so worried over one girl before!"

That remark was immediately countered by Tuff's still reddened glare as he spun his head around to look at him, "I was not _that_ worried!"

"Tuff, you hardly got up unless I told you to get some sleep, eat or even use the bathroom!" Riley pointed out with a smug smile, enjoying the reaction his teasing gave him. "I'd say that's _pretty_ worried."

Tuff then begun to rant at Riley who only chuckled at him, "Riley, I swear -!"

"Thank you." The girl said promptly, drawing both their attention. When they looked at her, the girl's face held no more hostility, instead was painted into one of true sincerity and her tail had taken on a peaceful curly pattern as it went up behind her. Her bright eyes were smiling as well as she added, "For what you did for me. If it hadn't been for you and your brother, I wouldn't be here at all. So, thank you again . . . For everything."

Tuff, who was barely one to expect receiving compliments as much from pretty girls like the one before him, felt a tiny bit of a smile touch his mouth. ". . . Y-You're welcome, for what's it worth."

The girl smiled in return, shifting the blanket on her shoulders the tiniest bit and looking up at the both of them. Tuff then winced, beginning to recall how much that dumb name was annoying him three days ago. He really wished that he knew her –

The proverbial light-bulb went off in his head then. _Duh_!

Tuff cleared his throat again, his voice coming out more casually. "Uh, actually," The girl's ears perked up, one up and one down again. "I was wondering . . . If you really _do_ want to thank us, maybe you could start by helping us out with a few things."

The girl's eagerness showed a bit as she asked with a little cock of her head to the other side, "Oh! Of course. Uhm, what do you need help with?"

"Well, for starters," Tuff shrugged simply before smiling kindly. "We'd settle for your name. No offense, but if we both keep calling you "The girl" I think I'm going to lose it."

The girl started a bit at that but then she closed her eyes, giving a short laugh that Tuff ultimately found cute. "Of course." She looked up at him again and said politely. "My name's Cassie. Cassie Matsyendra."

_Beautiful._ That was the only word that came to Tuff's mind. Tuff gave a short laugh himself before saying warmly, "Well, then, "Cassie" . . ." He let that name sink into his mind. Once that was done, he looked at the gi– At Cassie as happily as he dared to let show. ". . . It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Tuff Luck."

Riley then decided to pounce on him, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and nearly cutting off the air from his windpipe. Tuff grunted at him as Riley then declared brightly to Cassie, "And I'm the more _awesome_ and more _attractive_ twin brother, Riley Luck! Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Cassie!"

Cassie, no longer weirded out by Riley's flirting despite the very short time of actually knowing him, giggled a little at him and the annoyed eye roll Tuff gave him. "Pleasure's all mine, I think."

When she quickly bent over to retrieve her fallen knife, she looked back over at Tuff with a bemused smile. "Now, that I know who's who here; Tuff, would you like my help in getting that . . . That _whatever _that is off your finger?"

Tuff gave a small noise of confusion then held up the hand she was looking at; he felt his face burning up hotly at the unsolvable mess that was once a perfectly good fishing wire that still held onto his appendage with the grip of python. Oh . . . Right.

Unable to think of a good retort, he simply chuckled weakly while rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "Yes, please."

He ignored Riley who snickered at him from his shoulder.

* * *

**ME: Lol, poor Tuff, so much for the smooth approach. XD**

**Whew! Wow, I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to get this in so early today! Lately, I'm trying to beat the clock before it hits midnight. But nevermind, here it is!**

**Until next time, please read and enjoy!**


	7. The Clashing of Waves: Act II, Part I

**_Chapter 7._**

**_The_**

**_Clashing_**

**_Of_**

**_Waves_**

**_Act II,_**

**_Part I_**

* * *

**ME: Hurray! We finally come into Act Two! Now the story's REALLY going to start taking off . . . I hope.**

**Anyways, I know I haven't said this lately, but I'm saying it now in case you've forgotten, I OWE NOTHING!**

* * *

_"__Its six A.M. and I'm wide awake,  
'Cause I can't stop thinking about the stuff you were saying to me and I can't let it slide . . ._

_The paper's not here yet, t__he sun's not up,_

_But I'm not afraid to tell you what I feel inside, I had one of those dreams that makes it all so . . ._

_Clear to me now, I got a whole new perspective . . ._  
_It's so Clear to me now, you can't treat me that way . . ._

_It appears to me how long you tried to make me think it was me who was being the fake . . .  
So Clear . . ._

_"__Clear" – Hannah Montana_

**~X~**

Dr. Marlin let out a breath of calm frustration at the pretty red-furred and chocolate-haired Seranith female in front of him. He could not believe his luck.

"So, he's not back yet, is he?" Dr. Marlin sighed.

The Seranith, dressed in plain white frock and wearing her hair in a simple bun held up by a matching flower pin, smiled sadly at him. "I'm sorry, Dr. Marlin, I'm afraid I haven't received word from Dr. Oigi concerning his return. I am sorry for the inconvenience. I understand that you've been waiting here for the past three days ever since you arrived."

Dr. Marlin nodded. "That I have. I was hoping to meet with Dr. Oigi earlier to discuss a very _important_ matter. It's of the upmost urgency that I talk to him."

"Of course, Dr. Marlin," The Seranith nodded once again apologetically. "But like I said, I'm afraid Dr. Oigi has been busy with matters over on the next island; a horrible case of scurvy has been wreaking Gold Island lately with no signs of rest. It seems he may be there for quite a while still."

Dr. Marlin frowned. "I see . . . Well, if he does send word please let me know immediately; it's imperative that I speak with him."

"Of course, Dr. Marlin." The Seranith bowed her head politely, her bangs obscuring her eyes for a second. "I hope you have a good day."

'I doubt it.' Dr. Marlin bowed his head in return, walking away from the small dentistry and converging into the path of crowded, busy shops and errand-running, endlessly gabbing and dealing humans, Avians flying high and hanging low above the crowds and the occasional Pangolin, Pandorian or even more rare Were-Beast passing by silently with either a casual scowl or a calm smile. As he walked, he bumped shoulders with random strangers, quickly exchanging apologies with them and continuing on his way. All the while, keeping a careful hand placed over the pocket of his coat where the tooth resided.

He allowed his mind to drift as he walked; Dr. Marlin had managed to reach the large town of Little Oak, as he had predicted, by near noon three days ago; it was easy with the help from a friendly farmer who was on his own way to sell his goods at the town market, having almost passed him on the road and, after a brief explanation on Dr. Marlin's behalf, was more than happy to give the good doctor a lift.

Wishing him luck on his harvest selling, Dr. Marlin immediately made a bee-line to Dr. Oigi's dentistry, located near the bakery and crafts store. He was so quick in his haste, however, that he failed to think on the account of the door actually being _open_; he only took one step before smashing his face into the door's stiff surface and landing flat on his tail, much to the surprise of some passerby humans. He was quick to get on his feet, politely but sternly refusing the help of the said humans – _I'm old, not incapacitated! _– Finally making notice of the large "**_Closed Until Furthur Notice_**" sign posted in the window.

Asking the same humans before they could get too far about the sign, they explained that Dr. Oigi had been called away on business that was requiring of his talents, exactly as what the Seranith girl had later said when she had returned an hour later. His spirits dampened considerably when he had asked how long Dr. Oigi had been gone, only to be answered by an astounding course of two whole weeks.

After receiving that news, he made it a point to talk with Dr. Oigi's assistant near every day for the past few, the young Seranith female named Stella Wool Nix, whose name he found out later and who was also quite lovely company to be honest, even if he found her name a little on the odd side. Sadly, her answer would always be the same as it was earlier on. _Nothing_ to report and _nothing_ to hear about.

Dr. Marlin rubbed the skin between his eyes, as he often did when he felt a headache coming on. He had hoped that Roshi Oigi would've said something by now, being the boisterous and aggravating man that he was. At this point, he would even take a response via a Speech Moot showing his erratic and horrendously slanged words which always took him forever to understand. That man's language could make the most educated scholar in the Archipelago go out of his mind.

Why did Roshi have to be off the Island now at all times? Right at the most _inopportune_ time? Right where he finally might've found something that could help bring peace back to his town? If Dr. Marlin didn't know the man, he would swear he did this deliberately just to build up suspense and see if "Old Man Haddie" would keel over from the –

_CLINK, Clink, C-c-clink!_

His ear flicked at that sharp sound. Turning his head, he met with the beginning of an old alley. It was starting to darken by the shadows of the setting sun but Dr. Marlin could still make out the signs of old trashcans and the corners out of abandoned boxes and crates. He even saw a random piece of paper flitter by with the soft current of wind.

He would've just wrote the sound of as just a trick of the wind if it weren't for –

_Clink, clink . . . THUD!_

_SNORT! _"_. . . Lady Mandy wantin' sum panty . . . Henry Gerorgin' . . ?_"

Dr. Marlin listened to the ramblings blankly for a full near two seconds . . . Before promptly slapping the heel of his palm into his forehead.

_Mother of the Maker, not again . . ._

He turned on his heel, stomped right into the alley and stopped only when he was standing over the now prone, _extremely_ drunken and incoherently babbling figure, placing on hand on his hip and impatiently tapping the head of his cane while his tail lashed out behind him.

The man before him was in his early forties; with a raggedy mop of dusty blonde hair covering his head that was even more mussed up than before and in clear need of a wash, what he remembered were soapy green now closed and hanging over a flush of intoxicated red and a giddy thoughtless smile. His outfit that usually consisted of a sweater vest, dress shirt and light-colored slacks was in utter dishevelment, with the vest bunched up past his chest and showing signs of lipstick smears and stains he could only imagine, the same going for his pants only with the fly open and the bottom being covered in a mixture of mud and wine. In a nutshell, judging by the now near empty bottle clutched like a rattle in his hand as he lay on his side like a child, this man was in total need in a wash or two . . . Along with the _rest_ of him.

Dr. Marlin's nose crinkled at the strong stench of dirt, sweat and alcohol that radiated off of him. He gave sharp bite of breath while shaking his head.

Honestly, did Dr. Roshi Oigi have no regard to his own personal hygiene? Certainly would make the job easier on him and everyone else . . .

Dr. Marlin then jabbed him in the leg with his cane, impishly in hopes of stirring him awake. Dr. Oigi responded simply by scrunching his face up and mumbling something about "Ninja bunnies with strudel cakes" before slowly turning on his other side. His back now faced Dr. Marlin; Dr. Marlin, to both his bewilderment and amusement, received a perfect view of a crudely drawn doodle that someone had done of a tomato sporting a goofy grin and rosy cheek while winking. Above and below it read, "**_KISS ME WHEREVER, I'M RED ALL OVER!_**"

The Were-Mouse blinked. The things young people came up with these days . . .

Dr. Marlin then just decided to go for the direct approach. He flipped the cane in his hand so he could grip the butt of it, the head then delivering three hard and swift knocks to the side of the wasted human's unsuspecting head.

Dr. Oigi snorted once again, letting out an unintelligent "Meh?" before spouting, "– Office hours are between twelve and five and we have a new family dental plan if you're interested in expanding . . ." He straightened himself up, only to end up facing the wall. He couldn't comprehend this for a portion of one minute before shaking his head. ". . . Huh, what in . . . How did I . . . . .?" He finally turned his head around while scoping out his new and rather rustic surroundings, looking at Dr. Marlin's irate and annoyed face from an upside-down view while creaking his neck back. "Oh, hi, Haddie. What brings you here?"

"I should ask you the very same question!" Dr. Marlin snapped, his cane flipped back into its proper position and stamping its butt into the ground. "Where have you been?!"

"Oh, uh . . ." Dr. Oigi rolled his eyes left to right as he tried to come up with a proper answer. After a moment or so of this, he replied, ". . . Here and there."

Dr. Marlin's ear twitched again, this time at his quickly-building annoyance as he stared down at him. "And where exactly is "Here and there"?"

"Well, y'know, uhm . . . . _Here_ and _there_!" Dr. Oigi busted out laughing, falling onto his back from leaning out backwards so much. "There's enough reason for ya!"

"I've been speaking with your _assistant_ for the past few _three_ days because I was _hoping_ to receive _word_ from _you_ regarding your endeavors involving _Scurvy_ over at _Gold Island_!" Dr. Marlin bit out at him. Dr. Oigi's laughing had died down to chuckles by then as he smiled aimlessly, clueless to his fellow doctor's agitation. "When I asked the locals about it they told me you were still there even after a schedule of _two_ _weeks_! So _what_, pray tell, are _you_ doing **_here_**!?"

Dr. Oigi acted like he never even heard his question, instead he brightened up like a schoolboy on his first good grade. "Huhm, _Stelly_? You've been with Stelly?" He quickly sat up although he nearly toppled backwards again in doing so. "Ah, hey, Haddie, y'know sumthin'? She's the best damn helper anyone can have, ya know that? The best damn helper . . ."

Dr. Marlin growled at his rambling before snapping, "Roshi, I'm _here_ to _talk_ to _you_ because _I_ _need_ **_your_** help!"

"Help?" Dr. Oigi repeated. His eyes then bugged out of his head, the both of wide with shocking realization before he then busted out laughing again a second later. Once calm enough, he said, "Ah, Haddie, ya old codger, never realized you had a _thing_ for _young_ _women_!"

Dr. Marlin's expression could only come across as comically horrified. "What?"

Taking his response for a confirmation, Dr. Oigi then said in choppy funny tone that Dr. Marlin assumed was supposed to be serious with a finger pointed at accusingly at him, "I warn you though, Haddie; a guy your age with a pretty young thing like that is nothing more than a _Sugar Daddy_! _Especially_ if that guy's a respectable doctor such as yourself, y'know?"

Dr. Marlin facepalmed at the sheer idiocy of his statement. Good God, this man was _drunk_.

"_Ahh~ _. . .Not that having a Lolita complex is such a bad thing, especially for men with good taste!" Dr. Oigi cooed out of nowhere.

Definitely _drunk_.

As such, Dr. Marlin knew that Roshi would forgive once he got him a strong tonic for what occurred next.

_BONK!_

_CRACK!_

"_OW!_"

_THWAP!_

_CRASH!_

"_OI, WHAT THE - !_"

_BANG!_

Dr. Marlin, repeating his steps from earlier, reemerged from the alley, this time bearing his cane far behind him, gripping it by the bottom while the head was hooked onto Dr. Oigi's readjusted sweater vest, whom of which now bore two small bumps on his head that swelled considerably as he was dragged along fervently by the small, elderly doctor.

"Hey, hey, hey, Haddie~, what gives~?" Dr. Oigi drawled out, blindly following in step as he was tugged roughly by the cane's handler. "Where we goin'?"

"Getting you some of the hard stuff." Dr. Marlin said bluntly with an eye roll. He tried to ignore the confused and somewhat frightened stares of the townspeople around him as he continued to press forward. "I need you to be on your A-game in order for you to help me; not spouting off nonsense about make-believe fetishes."

"_What's wrong with fetishes?_" Dr. Oigi whined rather loudly, drawing the attention of some young girls and causing them to run away.

"Roshi, I'm in a bad mood and I'm an old man, don't make me hit you again." Dr. Marlin could barely hide his embarassment at the childish way his drunken college was acting. "And trust me, Roshi, that's not an easy thing to walk away from."

A pitiful whine was his only reply.

Dr. Marlin sighed wryly. He was sure to have his work cut out for him tonight . . .

* * *

**Me: I'm so sorry for the shortness of this chapter!**

**It literally too me forever to come up with what you see now and I'm so ashamed that I couldn't add extra content because of the almost lateness!**

**But I guess it's okay because we can see a little more of the Good Doctor Marlin and his stressful adventures . . . **

**Anyway, I promise they'll be more to come next chapter, so 'till next time!**


	8. The Clashing of Waves: Act II, Part II

**_Chapter 8._**

**_The_**

**_Clashing_**

**_Of_**

**_Waves;_**

**_Act II,_**

**_Part II_**

* * *

**ME: This chapter was originally meant to be in "Act II, Part I" but due to some timing and writing complications, I was forced to remove it and add it on to this part; but I promise it'll be well worth it!**

**Anyways, comments and reviews are appreciated!**

* * *

_"__I've got this friend,  
I don't think you know him . . .  
He's not much for words,  
He's hid in his hardened way . . ._

_Oh I've got this friend,_  
_A loveless romantic . . ._  
_All that he really wants_  
_Is someone to want him back . . ._

_Ohh, if the right one came . . ._  
_If the right one came along . . ._  
_Ohh, If the right one came, along . . ._

_I've got this friend,_  
_I don't think you know her . . ._  
_She sings a simple song,_  
_It sounds a lot like his . . ._

_Oh I've got this friend,_  
_Holding onto her heart . . ._  
_Like it's a little secret,_  
_Like it's all she's got to give . . ._

_Ohh, if the right one came . . ._  
_If the right one came along . . ._  
_Ohh, if the right one came, along . . ."_

_"__I've Got This Friend" – The Civil Wars_

**~X~**

Cassie's eyes fluttered open as she awoke.

Her mind was cloudy was sleep and it was dark. A little _too_ dark for her tastes. Wait, was she sleeping? Her eyes had been closed, right? Right. Just like when she awoken before.

But this time it was different. The pain and fear wasn't as bad as it was then. In fact, she felt rather . . . . _good_.

She still felt tired, but now had enough energy to gradually break away from the feeble yet greatly relaxing hold that sleep had over her. She didn't get up just yet; she raised her head from her pillow and met with a familiar dark yet cool closed-in space. It took her a minute or so for her eyes to adjust but she could easily make out the slight ripples the cloth made as she heard the faint sound of the wind breeze outside. She also caught the sliver of the opening slip a little light inside, making a thin line across the middle of her face when she turned her head around to face it. She smelled wood burning and heard the faint crackle of fire. Obviously, someone had started a fire.

Someone . . . Oh, okay, now she remembered.

She had kindly cut Tuff's finger free from what she later learned was his fishing pole, earning a polite thank you from Tuff and a flirty compliment on her knife-handling from Riley, followed by a kiss to her hand to which Tuff flicked him on the back on the head for in annoyance.

Any scolding that Tuff would've given him on common courtesy and manners was immediately cut short by the _very_ loud and _very_ deep rumbling sounding from both Riley's stomach and, much to his own horror and Cassie's sympathy, Tuff's.

Cassie couldn't help but feel pity for them when Tuff then stated bluntly that they had absolutely nothing to show for dinner other than some tea and a loaf of bread. That didn't stop her from giving them a strange look when, after bringing up the regular option of going to town to get food, the brothers flinched comically and both went into tirades of rapid and odd explanation and/or excuses as to why they couldn't. No money, they don't like going near humans, they hate the smell of the market, fear of signs – _Tuff's excuse which was given him an _especially _odd look from both Riley _and_ Cassie_ – Etc., etc. . . .

Regardless they were happy to share what they had with her when they decided to simply grin and bear it as they "usually" did, they commented. She would've refused, not wanting to put them out when they had already done so much for her already and _especially_ considering how she had reacted afterwards, if not for the unforeseen embarrassingly loud sound and the shocking feeling of utter emptiness of her own stomach. She could never remember a time when simple tea and bland bread had tasted so good . . .

After the pitiful dinner, which she hadn't commented on to be kind but Riley managed to call her out on it with a smile in spite of herself, night had already fallen over them with the dark sky and the small stars twinkling in silence far beyond their reach. The air had gotten cooler and the three of them could now easily hear the sounds of the forest insects chirping and birds hooting and fluttering near their camp. Tuff suggested that they all get some sleep; they already informed her about Dr. Haddock Marlin's work on her side while they ate before then explaining that they had a long way to go tomorrow so they could get her checked out and would need all the energy they could get.

She bid the both of them good-night and carefully crawled inside the tarp, hearing them going on about who was going to take the first shift. For what she didn't know and honestly, was too worn out to care. She laid her head down on her pillow and then . . . . _Nothing_.

Wow, she must've been more tired than she thought. She supposed that was the case after surviving a near-death experience.

She was now complete awake, slowly sitting up to not cause another surge of pain like before, and shivering only an instant at the sudden chill in the air biting her bare shoulders. She instinctively wrapped her blanket around her shoulders like a wrap to cover herself and keep warm.

She appreciated the thickness of the quilted fabric and the easy ability to store warmth, absently tracing the cute little goldfish designs sewn into the surface with smile. She thought the idea of Half-sharks carrying around a fish-covered quilt was cute. Just goes to prove how odd they can be. Vince would have certainly found it funny.

She lifted the corner of the curtain again and looked out. She spotted one of the Luck Brothers sitting on the log again, this time poking at the fire distractedly, stopping only to look up each time he heard something in the distance that she couldn't pick up with a frown. She would've thought he was Riley were it not for the necklace she had seen hanging around his neck earlier was missing and the small band-aid that was placed on the side of his jaw. Safe to say, it was Tuff.

She frowned at the nervous scowl on his face. He seemed . . . Worried? What would he have to worry about? Was something brought up earlier that she didn't make notice of?

. . . Well, there was only one way to find out.

Calmly, she straightened out her clothes, ran a hand through her short hair to make it at least look less tangled and manageable – _Having short hair was not as easy as it looked! _– and pinched her cheeks to make them look more blue because even though she didn't have a mirror she was sure they were pale, before getting on her hands and knees and slowly crawling out.

Tuff didn't notice her immediately; he had thrown his stick in the fire and now had his fingers laced together and pressed against his chin, his eyes watching the flames flicker all the while distant and lost in thought. He seemed so intense in his thinking, with his eyebrows furrowing together a little bit each second and his sea green eyes growing brighter by the light of the fire.

It wasn't until Cassie cleared her throat lightly that he snapped out of it. She smiled a little at his surprise when he jumped a little in his seat. "Good evening." She said simply as he turned to look at her.

Tuff looked a little rattled to say the least, but he managed to get over it quickly, bringing a hand up and brushing his bangs aside with a shy smile. "Oh, uhh, good evening, Miss Cassie. What are you doing up?"

Cassie shook her head lightly, taking a few steps forward towards him. "Sort of just woke up, after which I guess I couldn't just fall back to sleep."

Tuff gave her an emphatic smile. "Yeah, I know the feeling. I couldn't sleep either."

Cassie looked at the empty space next to him. "May I sit?"

Tuff, quickly realizing his unintentional blunder, gestured politely almost erratically, to the said space with a shaky smile. "Oh, yeah, of course!" Cassie thanked him and took a seat next to him, her tail now spotty and circling with rings slipping out behind her. "Sorry. I'm kind of just used to being the only one up at a time like this."

Cassie nodded understandingly. "It's probably sometime in the early morning isn't it?"

Tuff nodded as well. "Close to 1:40 now."

"And yet you're still so wide awake?" Cassie pointed out in silent awe.

Tuff scratched his cheek with his finger absently at the inquiring look in her eyes. "Ehm." He nodded gently. "I'm used to it. I'm always having trouble sleeping."

Cassie smiled sadly at him. "No doubt because of you being part-shark."

"You got it." Tuff agreed. "When you're half shark, it's kind of hard to keep your guard down."

"I understand." Cassie said. "Vince is always having trouble with that too."

"That guy you kept talking about in your sleep?" Tuff asked. Cassie gave him a confused look, both her ears drawing one up and down again. To this, he added, "When we found you and brought you back to our camp, you called Riley "Vince" because he was . . . _Trying_ to carry you and tickled you a bit by accident." He tried not to make it too obvious that he was lying. The last thing he wanted this girl to do was freak over Riley being unable to control his hormonal urges.

Thankfully, Cassie didn't notice; instead her ears simply went down as a light blush of blue dusted her cheeks when she looked away from him. Tuff found it difficult not to blush himself at her sudden shyness. Especially more so when she said, embarrassed, "Oh, I see . . . I must've been really out of it to not remember _that_."

"Hey, you were injured and delusional; anybody would've made that mistake." Tuff said reassuringly. "Given how you were when we found you, I'm amazed you didn't think that we were giant cupcakes or anything like that. Riley did that once when he was bit by a venomous eel back over at Gin Island. Even tried to take a bite out of me too."

Cassie giggled a little at that, which again Tuff found totally cute. "Poor Riley, it seems like he was okay after that though."

"Well, as okay as _Riley_ can get, at least." Tuff rolled his eyes bemused. "My point is, don't be ashamed of what happened; Maker knows other people have done worse."

"True." Cassie smiled in agreement. "Still, I should probably apologize to him." She then looked around for a second before asking, "_Where_ is he, anyway?"

A loud snore then made itself known from behind them; Tuff remained placid while Cassie's ears flew up and her tail blinked to a large ringlet pattern. They both turned their heads and saw Riley with the top of his head pushed up against the log and his arms and legs spread akimbo while a blanket lay haphazardly on his stomach, doing nothing to cover him as he slept, utterly dead to the world save for his large snores. Cassie was hard-pressed not to laugh in fear of waking him up.

Tuff saw her trying to stifle her laughter and shook his head. "Ah, don't worry about it. A couple chuckles won't wake him up. At this point, even with a blow-horn let off straight into his ear won't rouse him."

"You sound like someone who tried." Cassie stated, smiling.

"And failed. Needless to say, he never got to his date back on Yuki Island on time." Tuff said with a bored shrug. Cassie let out a small laugh then turned her head back around to face the fire.

A comfortable moment of silence passed over them, broken only by the sounds of popping, burning wood and the small breezes of wind blowing by them. Tuff took this moment to take another look at the woman only a few inches from him. Watching her, he saw how the firelight seemed to highlight her short blonde hair and add an almost sea-greenish tint to her aquamarine skin. Her eyes blended perfectly, making them almost appear like they were pure gold. Truth be told, she looked . . . She looked . . . _Beautiful_.

Tuff mentally sighed. That was the only word he could think of whenever he saw her. He didn't know what it was exactly that made him think that; he just couldn't help but ultimately think that of her on the spot each time she was there. But then again, who wouldn't? Nobody sane, that was for sure. In fact, they'd be crazy for thinking anything less.

She certainly was . . . _Something_. Definitely unlike anyone else. Despite only actually _knowing _her for a short time, she was definitely

. . . Plus, she had skin that was his favorite color. How often does someone get to meet a girl like _that_?

"Do I have something on my face?" Cassie's innocent question brought his train of thought to screeching halt.

Choking back a shout, Tuff nearly fell off the log and onto his sleeping twin but he caught himself barely in the nick of time, his body now bent back at an awkward arch and his legs raised so his knees could just almost touch his head. Cassie looked at him, one ear up and the other down, but otherwise said nothing.

Tuff tried to look composed; in actuality, his mind felt like he should run, dig the deepest, darkest hole he could . . . Then dig an even _deeper_ hole and throw himself in it. He gave her another shaky grin that made him cringe at the thought of how idiotic he must've looked to her. "No, _nonononono_, not at all! Sorry, I was just, uh, lost in . . . Ehn, lost in thought." He laughed a bit, automatically feeling stupid for that lame excuse.

If Cassie had noticed his disheveled mortification, she was kind enough not to say anything. As he tried to straighten himself up, she asked good-naturedly, "Are you alright, though? I mean, you seem worried about something."

"Just keeping an eye out." Tuff said, getting back into his previous position on the log.

Cassie's heart dropped just the slightest bit at his words. ". . . You mean to see if whoever attacked me will come back?"

Tuff's eyebrows went up slightly at her words. She sure caught on quick. ". . . Yes," He said slowly. "There's no telling if the creature may or may not be out there looking for you. We need to keep our guard up just in case." Looking at her, he then asked, "Speaking of which . . . I know you've been through a lot already, but it would help us if we knew what _exactly_ it is we need to watch out for."

He frowned when her fin took on a blotchy and squiggle design behind her as her face fell heavy with worry. She didn't look at him, suddenly finding the fire incredibly interesting. She tried to look impassive but her voice held all the fear that she was feeling inside. "I should have known you were going to ask me about that. Considering everything else that's happened."

"I know you're scared." Tuff said sympathetically, leaning only the tiniest inch towards her. "You have every right to be, but if Riley and I are going to protect you we need to know what from."

"I know." Cassie said quietly. "I understand. But this isn't really your fight." She reluctantly looked back at him. "You do know that, right?"

"I know that." Tuff said. "But the doctor told us that it's our job to keep you safe until he gives the word otherwise. Until then, if you can remember anything at all from what happened, it would sure be a big help."

Cassie felt like a fool for what she said next, "That's the thing, Tuff, I-I don't really remember anything. Anything _important_, at least."

Tuff went silent, a sort of a sign that she could continue, "I mean," Cassie started, her hand lifting and brushing her bangs aside. "I _can_ remember pieces and bits of it, like pieces of broken glass . . . I can't control them; they come at me with either great force or weak and its almost like random . . ." Cassie felt another headache coming on, slowly thrumming in her temple like a balloon being filled with water.

She pressed two fingers to the said temple, rubbing at it gently to relieve it of some of the tension. Tuff almost put a hand to her shoulder to ask if she was alright but froze mid-way and pulled back, albeit somewhat bashfully. She didn't notice but added, ". . . I remember seeing _something_ . . . Big . . . Smelly . . ." She wrinkled her nose a bit, drawing a momentary blank smile from Tuff. ". . . Really, _really_ horrifying . . ." Both her ears went down at the ominous feel of her words.

Her mind couldn't make an exact image of what exactly had happened. Or what exactly had chased her. The trauma she must've been through must've been pretty bad to block out all the important details and make all the shapes in her mind into one huge, black blank blob. To make matters worse, each time she tried to think harder, her headache would come back making it all the harder for her to focus. She was sure that her tail-fin was now panning electric shapes and downcast as it went around her like a nest. Cassie could not believe how useless she felt.

"I definitely remember running though," She said, twirling her thumbs absentmindedly. "I remember running . . . How scared I was of whatever it was that was behind me . . . I must've hit a dead end because I stopped . . ." Her hand went to her side, the pain dull now but still there. ". . . Then pain . . . Then I was falling . . . It got dark . . . And I started to hear voices." She looked at Tuff, who was still watching her with concerned sea green eyes. "You and Riley. You both were talking about me. Your voices started to fade not too long after though because I felt everything getting dark and heavy again . . . But when you spoke to me, telling me to breathe, I came back." She smiled gently at that part. "The rest you know I'm sure. After all, Riley's shirt got ruined and you gave me my breath back. That's not something people are prone to forgetting."

Tuff's cheeks dusted red at the small joke, a little flattered at her soft humor.

Cassie was being honest in what she said. His voice, to her, was deep, gentle and warm. In a way, it reminded her of the refreshing cool tingle after the harsh sting of a hot burn. Unexpected but welcoming.

Back long before, when she had been falling in the blackness, he had surprised her by sounding rough, almost inhuman before, when he had shouted at her to start breathing again. It was a little hard to process what he was saying when she felt the sudden pounding on her chest started grow quicker and harder, making her chest hurt even more.

She had felt tired. And she had felt scared, but that only happened when she thought that she had lost him when the dark void had started to devour her. That was the most terrified she ever been.

With that in mind, at his shout, she forced her heart to keep beating when it wanted just stay still. She forced her lungs to take in massive gulps of air when everything else she had taken before came right back up in heaps of inedible bile. She forced her body to move. She forced herself to _live_.

Anything to keep her from falling into the darkness again.

Once she had started to feel in her arms and legs again, she had realized that the world was _cold_. Even more so than when she had been drowning. She had been _beyond_ grateful when she felt something wrap around her and pull against another something that was comfortable, thick and warm. Sure, it felt kind of cold and wet, but not so much as she did, actually.

Whatever held her had tried to be careful and not jostle her too much while the ground beneath them felt like it was moving. She had welcomed the gentle rocking back and forth motion that followed, never minding the little bit of procrastinating nausea that came over her despite her earlier ailments.

She hadn't hesitated before pushing herself further into the warmth, wrapping her arms around it with a murmur in an attempt to banish the lonely cold. The only time she had felt something unpleasant was when a weight was pressed into her injured side, letting out a small whimper and burrowing her head into . . . _Whatever_ was around her to try and distract herself from the burning sting.

She remembered hearing something thumping somewhat irregularly in her ear. A heart, maybe? She had also smelled salty sea water and raw fish. A little like she was used to smelling after a swim.

It was nothing she wasn't used to. After all, she traveled with Vince.

She recalled faintly making out tea spice and old book paper. She would've smiled if she hadn't been in so much pain. It had smelled nice. Whatever that was, it smelled nice.

It reminded her of when she was little. When all she did was splash around, giggling at little waves in the water all day . . . And when the sun went down, she'd fall into the homey smell of tea leaves and the dust of old books . . .

Back when Faust would still be there . . . .

Cassie gave a small shake. Not because of the cold and pain this time.

If there was ever such a thing as receiving divine punishment, that was it.

. . . Okay, maybe it wasn't quite that. But it had been _pretty_ damn close.

Which made her all the more relived and thankful for the Sharkman in front of her. And the one currently snorting about "Beautiful Fishwomen" from behind them.

". . . I suppose not." Tuff smiled back just as gently as her. "Especially with my experience. I just wish we could help you more than we have been."

"Oh, you've both been a huge help to me." Cassie waved him off. "After all, you saved me just in the nick of time while a lesser person would've just left there like old fish bait. Plus you're both going out of your way to help me. That's more than I've known any stranger to do for me."

"I doubt that." Tuff ran a hand through his bangs again, clearly embarrassed by her praise. "I mean, pretty woman such as yourself probably gets help from random strangers all the time."

Cassie rolled her eyes in no ways rudely. "Considering the company I usually keep, not as much as you think."

Tuff what about to ask what she meant by that when she let out a small, quiet yawn; she blushed a little when she put a hand to her mouth belated. Tuff gave her a comforting smile. "It's pretty late, you should get some sleep."

Cassie tried to play it off, shaking her head. "I'll be alright. I don't want to leave you out here alone."

"I'll be fine, trust me." Tuff cast a withering glance at Riley scratching his armpit mindlessly in his sleep as he continued to murmur. "With him snoring the way he is, I sincerely doubt anyone's going to come within ten miles of here."

Cassie giggled again at his expression before carefully getting to her feet. "Well, if you're sure of that . . . I'll be heading to bed then. Good night, Tuff."

"Good night, Cassie." Tuff nodded politely in return. Cassie smiled one last time before she turned and went to the tarp, slowly bending down and crawling inside without another word.

Tuff watched her, his smile falling into a wistful frown. He let out a small breathe of air through his nose and turned his attention to the fire. Though it wasn't really his primary focus, he needed to look at something that would keep him from staring into space like an idiot.

Like it mattered, anyway. Despite her kind words, she probably saw him as a total idiot. He must be, at least around women. There was no sense daydreaming about her.

It wasn't like she was going to be sticking around for long anyway.

"So, _you're_ the reason Mari sent her brothers after us with a machete?" Riley's head suddenly popped on his shoulder. Tuff bristled at the heavy irritation in his voice.

He should've known Riley was faking it. After all, Riley always scratched his _left _armpit when he was sleeping . . .

* * *

**Me: I am SOOOO SORRRY! I did not mean to miss an update, really I didn't! Some . . . ****_personal_**** issues had to be dealt with the last few days of last month and I just sort of lost track of time!**

**That and updating with an "Every-Five-Day-update" schedule was as tiring as hell so that was another reason for my bad timing. In any case, it shall not happen again without reason!**

**Enough with my babbling, so sorry if this chapter sucks, but reviews and comments are appreciated!**


	9. The Clashing of Waves: Act II, Part III

**_Chapter 9._**

**_The_**

**_Clashing_**

**_Of_**

**_Waves;_**

**_Act II,_**

**_Part III_**

_"__I've got my ticket for the long way 'round,  
Two bottle whiskey for the way,  
And I sure would like some sweet company,  
Oh, I'm leaving tomorrow. What do you say?_

_When I'm gone (when I'm gone)_  
_When I'm gone (when I'm gone)_  
_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone . . ._

_You're gonna miss me by my hair,_  
_You're gonna miss me everywhere,_  
_You're gonna miss me when I'm gone . . ."_

_Cups (You're Gonna Miss Me) – Lulu and the Lampshades_

**~X~**

"**_AWAY ON BUSINESS!_**

**_CLOSED UNTIL OTHERWISE!_**"

Tuff, Riley and Cassie all blinked at the sign posted on the door. They three of them stood outside the door of Dr. Marlin's small hospital and couldn't believe the inopportune timing of the sign's meaning.

Riley squinted at the extra sentence added below the bold words. ""_So nobody go and do anything life-threatening and/or hazardous to your health; or else you can kiss your tail good-bye!_" _Hmm_, Old-Timer does not mince his words, does he?"

"Shouldn't Dr. Marlin been back a few days ago?" Cassie asked the both of them, her tail circling her ankles.

"Yeah, he should've been," Riley replied with hands on his hips and a huff of calm frustration. "Little Oak Town is only a days walk from here."

"For a younger man, maybe, Riley." Tuff pointed out. "Without help, someone like Dr. Marlin would probably have to go a long way to get there."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Riley scratched at his chin. "Despite how much vim the Old-timer's got in him, he's still in his golden years."

"Wait." Cassie said, her ears raising a little. "You don't think something happened to him, do you?"

"I don't think so." Tuff crossed his arms. "I think I would've sensed it if something had happened. He could just be running late or maybe he lost track of time."

Cassie gave a small noise of agreement. "Mmn, maybe."

Cassie, Tuff and Riley had only just arrived in town about an hour ago. It had been a long walk through the dense forests and they had almost gotten lost twice due to the fact that neither one of them wasn't exactly clear as to the precise directions to the town of Great Maple. There was also the matter of Cassie needing to stop every eight minutes each time they tried to hurry, resulting in her slowing to a halt and trying to catch her breath. Tuff and Riley were patient with her. They knew she was still recovering from the injury and made it a point to stop and wait until she gave the okay before pushing on.

They were even sweet enough to help her over a few trenches that were too wide for her to jump and would cause her side to pull. By which, they simply picked her up into their arms and jumped over the said trenches and or rivers holding her as carefully as they could. Riley even made a joke about how she must've been filled with feathers like a pillow, which earned him a groan from Tuff and a blank smile from Cassie.

It was about mid-day when they had finally entered through the gates; she wondered why Tuff and Riley were so insistent on the fact that they go when it was nice and bright with the sun high in the sky. That and why she couldn't hurry on ahead of them as they were slowly making their way through the woods. She would've thought it was just them being chivalrous and not wanting her to wind up alone if it weren't for her catching glimpses of them looking around in constant alertness with hands twitching and edging near their swords each time something sounded from the trees.

Something else was clearly going on. Tuff and Riley had already told her everything about finding her in the cove and having the now absent Dr. Marlin treat her side, which she could easily piece together herself from the _very_ few fragments of memory she had from her attack and near drowning. The huge bandage still wrapped up around her side helped some too.

But there was something bothering them; they probably didn't think that she noticed, but she saw them share a worried glance with one another time and again ever since she met them yesterday afternoon. Their ominous expressions kept bothering her. Did they know something that she didn't know?

She couldn't really tell for sure what had them so worried. Considering that the both the Luck Brothers were sharks, she didn't really believe that any wild animal would actually try and go near them. At least not in broad daylight. Then again, the both of them were only _Half_-Bloods. But even the most simple-minded of wild animals would be able to pick up the thin traces of Were-Shark in their scents.

Did Dr. Marlin maybe say something to them? Besides wanting to check her side, maybe he wanted Tuff and Riley to bring her to him for another reason?

Well, considering the rather ill-humored sign, she didn't think she was going to get her answers any time soon.

"Well, since going to Dr. Marlin's is out, what's the plan?" Riley put his hands behind his head laid-back.

Cassie felt her ear go up at some whispering going on behind her and gave a dry look at a pair of young women looking at her and pointing at her in what they apparently deemed discreet. Turning her head back, she suggested, "Perhaps we should see if we can find a tailor. I need to get my shirt mended and honestly, it seems like some of the locals are starting to wonder if I'm color-blind." That last part she added dryly towards the said women, unbeknownst to Tuff and Riley.

Tuff rubbed the back of his neck again as he said with small blush, "Uh, yeah, you're probably right. Since we're the subject though, sorry again about the clothes. I know they're not really in style, but we couldn't really have you have walking around with a ripped shirt with a broken zipper."

Cassie looked down at her wardrobe in what could be described as blank conformity. She was currently sporting Tuff's forest green vest which was buckled by three small brown strips and Riley's loud, bright pair of red pants that was hopelessly wide around her skinny waist and almost went past the middle of her knee. She discovered, much to her own embarrassment, that she would have had to hold them up by one hand constantly to keep them from falling past her hips. Luckily, she managed to salvage her large silver buckle belt from her old clothes which was more than capable of holding up the shorts. Any flirty jokes that Riley would've made on how she looked in them was instantly put on hold when a frowning Tuff quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. The final touch was the blue-and-green matching sleeves of her previous outfit that she wore on her arms and legs, the cloth clashing greatly with those of the taller, older and broader men in front of her.

If Vince were here, he would probably be joking about her losing a bet.

"It's alright," Cassie shook her head. "But we should still go see if we can find someone who can hopefully repair my top. There's sure to be one in town somewhere." She gestured briefly to the satchel that Tuff had set over his shoulder. She had wanted to bring her top with her and Tuff, being a gentleman, offered to put in his satchel so she wouldn't have to carry it around and draw unwanted attention. A rather futile effort considering how she was dressed now but she appreciated the offer regardless.

"Yeah, you know I think I remember seeing a Tailor shop when Tuff and I first came here." Riley said, looking around. "I think it was somewhere near either the bookstore or –"

"_HEY!_" A gruff voice suddenly sounded from behind them.

Tuff and Riley immediately flinched at the sound. Cassie looked at the both of them in confusion as they groaned simultaneously with an "Oh, no . . ." What was the matter with them?

A moment later, Cassie saw why.

A huge colossus of a man was stomping his way towards them. "Stomping" was putting the term lightly, each time this man's foot hit the ground Cassie swore she could feel the ground shake a little beneath her feet. "Colossus" was a well-earned word because this human was _huge_. He was ridiculously ripped, his thick arms bulging from the rather tasteless vest he wore and his matching pair of legs stretched the equally as unappealing trousers he wore as far as they could go without ripping. At his full height he stood at least three heads over Tuff and Riley and at least four heads over Cassie, his shadow effortlessly going over them all. He had greasy blonde hair cut haggardly short, bland brown eyes and a horrid case of scratches all over his face.

Cassie's nose scrunched up at the heavy odor radiating from him. He smelled like a large brewery that had died. Judging by the sour expression on his face, one might as well have. His breath was equally as rotten when then grunted at Tuff and Riley, "I thoughts I told youse two to stay outta town! What? You two eager for a beatin'?"

Riley, as much as he abhorred going near the human's most likely genetically horrid smell, edged close to him and growled back, "What? We can't even do business here?"

"_Business_?" The human sneered. He butted his forehead against Riley's so he was right in his face and the Sharkman had to use everything in him to keep himself from gagging. "The only business youse sharks are good fors is makin' off with other men's girls and ransacking the town's fish supply!"

Riley rolled his eyes at him. "Hey, it's not my fault that your girlfriend thought my teeth were hot."

"Youse must have a real hearin' problem, shark-boy!" The human growled, pushing his head back with a very deep scowl.

This time, Riley's eyes nearly crossed at the abhorrent smell and he almost toppled back a step. "Yeah, too bad my nose works just fine."

The human growled lowly, his gaze growing murderous and his teeth grinding together. He looked ready to strangle Riley before Tuff quickly pulled him back and stepped in his place. "Look, we don't want any trouble, we just want to find a tailor and we'll be on our way."

"A tailor, huh?" The human said condescendingly, getting in Tuff's face like Riley's and Tuff couldn't help but make a face at the said stench. "Guessin' youse shark-boys are lookin' for some nice suits to be buried in, huh? Not that stinkin' man-eaters like youse deserve somethings so nice!"

Cassie, who had kept silent up to this point, had felt her patience running extremely thin each minute with the intoxicated giant spitting venom in front of her. Who did this human think he was, calling these two man-eaters? If it weren't for them, she wouldn't even be here right now! Eyes narrowed and now thick-lightning designed tail risen behind her, she stepped up behind Tuff and stood on her tip-toes so she could peek over his shoulder. "Excuse me, but you have _no_ right to call them that! If anything, these two are _farthest_ things from that!"

The human took one look at her before suddenly breaking out into a disgusting grin. "_Heyyy_," Cassie felt ready to vomit herself as she watched his eyes roam over what he could see of her body. "Youse a pretty young thing, aren't youse? Why's youse hangin' out with this chumps? I bet I could show youse a _real_ good time . . ."

He made a move to grab her but Tuff was quicker; his hand snapped out and grabbed the man's meaty wrist with a python's grip, the giant grunted in pain as Cassie swore she heard the bones in it crack. The next second he growled in a low voice that didn't sound like his at all, "You _leave_ _her_ **_alone_**."

Cassie gave a small shudder at the intensity in his voice. She had hardly heard him speak like that. It was nearly like something was trying to take over and push the man known as Tuff Luck out. No doubt it was the Shark in him talking, judging by the amount of strength that she saw him putting into clutching the now swearing Giant's limb. She had no idea whether to be relieved or frightened.

The human yanked his wrist back and rubbed it in a lame attempt to relieve it of its soreness. Looking at him, then at Cassie then at Riley, and back to Cassie again, his eyes glinted with some sort of an epiphany. His face twisted into another deep scowl as he muttered, "Ohhh . . . _Now_ I see what's going ons here . . . Can't believe I didn't see this sooner . . ."

Tuff frowned at the suspicious tone of the human. "What are you talking about?"

"What? Youse think I'm an idiot?!" The man bellowed. Tuff and Riley bit back their reply. "I know why youse two are here with this missy; youse two are the ones that's been _killing_ all our girls!"

Tuff, Riley and Cassie's eyes all went wide at that accusation. _Killings_?! Cassie looked at the man like he had instantly grown three heads. Tuff and Riley, however, knew what he meant completely.

"_WHAT_?!" Riley exclaimed in disbelief. "Where the hell did you get that from?! Tuff and I have nothing to do that!"

The man gave a curt "humph!" as he crossed his tree trunk-like arms across his chest. "That's _just_ what a _murderer_ would say. Not thats I expect anything less from youse beasts!"

"Where's your proof that they're even responsible?" Cassie quipped at him sharply, stepping out from behind Tuff with hands on her hips. Tuff looked at her, astounded by her boldness towards this drunken idiot of a human but didn't let that stop the worried expression on his face from showing at her likeliness of being grabbed again. "Do you have actual evidence or are you just condemning them simply for the convenience of it?"

Clearly this human never heard of common sense because he scoffed at her like she had just said something stupid. "I don't need no stinkin' proof! Sharks are cold-blooded, murderin' beasts! That's all theres to it! If I says they's guilty, they's _guilty_! End of story!"

Cassie felt her temper flaring at his ill-mannered logic. A familiar tingle started to flow through her veins and into the column of her tail. If he said one more thing about the two men behind her who she could feel getting as hot under the collar as her, he was going to have hell to pay . . .

"You know, they's probably readying to make a meal outs of youse too, sugar," He added with a smirk that made Cassie's ears lower in annoyance. "Which gives me more than enough reason to make shark fricassee' out of them before –"

Anything that the Colossus would've said next was abruptly cut off by a _very_ undignified and a _very_ high yelp.

His hands flew to his back side as he whirled around in search of the assaulter, only to be greeted by thin air. The Luck Brothers and Cassie didn't have to see his face to know his confusion. Honestly, they were a little confused themselves about what would cause such a giant of a human to squeak like a little girl.

Their befuddlement didn't last long; a second later, a sharp voice then made itself know by chirping from below them, "Boy, I'm down here!"

Everyone looked down at those words. There standing at a height of two feet and three inches was a creature that definitely seemed out of the norm . . . Even by Archipelago standards.

She was short and furry, almost matching the appearance of a Were-Weasel; her long, thick brown hair tied up in a professional bun set in between her pair of large floppy square-like ears, matched the same shade of brown fur on her paws, bowed legs, and the markings of her cheeks, ears and tail. Her markings bore a sort of tiger-like pattern, the design bold and fierce against the golden brown fur covering the rest of her body. Her eyes were equally as fierce with the color of dark rich gold, a shade of yellow currently sparking irate at the foolish human towering over her. She held no fear at his size, even going so far as bringing up the small yet thick needle that had pierced his posterior.

The human gave an incredulous look towards the odd woman. "Mother Logai! What was that for? I ain't dones nuttin' to youse!"

"For once, you're right." "Mother Logai" said, taking the needle and sticking it into the pin cushion strapped on her wrist. "You've done nothing to _me_, but as usual, you're being a _totally_ wasted ignoramus who couldn't tell a _rat_ from his own _mother_ while smelling like he had drunken the town's brewery out of business."

"HEY!" The human exclaimed curtly. "Leave my mum outta this!"

"Gladly," Mother Logai said bluntly, setting her hands on her hips. "When **_you_** stop getting blitzed like an idiot and throwing around stupid accusations at every random half-blood beast-boy that comes by like a child," Tuff and Riley looked a little miffed at that part but stayed silent. "And treating every cute girl that comes by like she's your own personal play-thing. What, that dumbbell Sally wasn't enough for your tastes?"

The man's face fell at her words, his expression like one a little boy who was being reprimanded by his mother for being naughty, causing him to swing a beefy hand towards Tuff and Riley, the latter of whom looked ready to bite his finger off if it weren't for Tuff's shaking head. "But, Mother Logai, those _half-blood mutts_ _are_ responsible! Who else could have been killing all those innocent girls?"

Cassie immediately felt the urge to step forward and smack him as hard she could; but Mother Logai beat her to it by jumping up to the giant's face rather amazingly and promptly giving the human's cheek an abrupt "thwap!" with her paw.

The three of them winced at the sound and even more so at her harsh tone. "Don't you **_dare_** call them that; I know for a damn well fact that your mother raised you better than _that_! They are just as _human_ as you are. Do you honestly think they would be dumb enough to come here if they _were_ behind these killings?" She didn't the man time to answer as she continued, "You know as well as I do that these horrible murders have been going on long before these two boys came to town. So don't you _dare_ insult the memory of each of those girls and their families wounded by these tragedies by crucifying innocent men _simply_ because of the opportunity!"

Mother Logai's face remained hard despite the pitifully sad look that the human was now giving her as he cradled his reddening cheek. Tuff, Riley and Cassie all could not help but admire the strong vim she was showing towards someone who could probably flatten her in a heartbeat.

"_Mother Logai_ . . ." The man whimpered pathetically down at her, shocking everyone save the said woman by sounding like he was close to tears.

Mother Logai wouldn't hear of any complaints he was about to give her. Instead she snapped, "Don't "_Mother Logai_" me, boy! I'm not gonna hear a word of it until you're stone cold sober!" She brought up a hand behind her, pointing in a direction know only to her and commanded, "Now, you go home, get a strong tonic, food and water in your belly, a **_greatly_**needed shower, into bed and **_stay_** there! And if I so much as hear you cracking open another bottle, I swear I'm coming after you and sewing you up into your blankets like a cocoon! NOW **_GET_**!"

The human, whose expression went from shock, to nervousness, to absolute bed-wetting fear, booked it as fast as he could; he whimpered like a toddler all the way, never stopping even as he tripped and fell face flat into the dirt.

As they watched him scramble back to his feet, his cries growing more and more obscure as he disappeared around a corner, save Mother Logai's calmly agitated face; the expressions on Tuff's, Riley's and Cassie's faces were priceless.

Mother Logai gave short puff of air as she looked down the street where the shockingly weak-willed Colossus of a man vanished to. "_Pssh_, unbelievable . . ." She mumbled to herself. "Men are all the same. They act all big and macho, but the instant the get a taste of their own medicine, they run screaming for the mothers." Turning towards them, she added, "I swear some men are such –"

She was abruptly cut off when Riley suddenly reached down, grabbed her by her shoulders and held her up like she was a great idol who had dropped out of the sky. His face easily portrayed that as he said in complete and total awe. "That. Was. _AWESOME_!"

Mother Logai blinked at him, a little confused at his praise. Then, when she got it a second later, she grinned all but humbly. "What, _that_? Oh, shucks, Sweet-pea, that was nothing; I gotta deal with that idiot son of a fisherman at least twice a week. Practically child's play by now."

Cassie, almost as impressed as Riley was, then pointed out, "But that man was **_huge_**! He looked like he could've _squashed_ you like a bug."

"Oh, sweetie, _please_!" Mother Logai waved her off. "I've faced off against plenty of me like that in the past. That was nothing compared to what I went through when I was about your age!" Her fur bristled a little, her smile showcasing something between horror and humor. "Which for all your sakes, I _won't_ repeat unless somebody here wants to have nightmares for the _rest_ of their _lives_."

Tuff gave her a small smile as he said, "Well, all the same, thank you for your help. A couple more minutes and that man would be missing a finger and the three of us would high-tailing it off the island."

Mother Logai's ears twitched light-heartedly. "Oh, don't mention it, child," Riley had set her down by now and she dusted herself off as she continued, "I hate it when humans try and get away with whatever crap they try to pull over other species. Gives the rest of us mammals a bad name . . ." Clapping her paws together she then said, "Well, now that we've got that put aside; I heard that you're in need of a tailor."

Tuff's eyebrows rose a little bit in surprise. "Huh? How did you –?"

Mother Logai simply pointed to the two appendages on the sides of her head. "Ears like these don't miss much. Not that I need it with the way you've got this poor girl dressed!" She pointed to Cassie at that last part. Cassie flushed a dark blue as she adjusted her, or rather _Tuff's_, vest awkwardly. Mother Logai "tsk"ed at her, shaking her head. "Really, sweetie, that red color is _sooo_ not you; I could hear those trousers of yours from a mile away!"

"O-oh, uhm, actually," Cassie stuttered, greatly uncomfortable all of sudden. "These clothes aren't really _mine_, they a-actually belong to . . . To _them_." She gestured briefly to Tuff and Riley at the end of her sentence.

Mother Logai looked between the identical twin sharks before made a small "o" of understanding. "Oh, I _see_ . . ." She frowned at the bright, loud colors Riley's purple and yellow shirt and the green knee-patched pants and the soft yet flashy tones of Tuff's red vest, sky blue long-sleeved shirt and cool gray pants before rolling her eyes and rubbing at her forehead. "Well, _that_ certainly explains a lot!"

"Hey, why argue with a classic look?" Riley shrugged impishly while Tuff sighed lightly at him.

Cassie gave another small giggle at Riley's honesty.

"Do you really want me to begin, Sweet-pea?" Mother Logai retorted with a dry eye.

"You seem to know an awful lot of what you're talking about." Tuff stated with a knowing glance.

"Naturally, dearie," Mother Logai jerked her thumb towards herself with a proud grin. "Name's Logai TigerPelt, Top seamstress of Pound Island and the sole Median Jakkai of the Archipelago; and now I'm gonna make it my sole mission to change your young lady's look, even if it kills me!" Looking towards Cassie, she added, "Got a problem with that?"

"Nope!" Cassie smiled brightly. "Not a one!"

"Good!"

* * *

**ME: Hello, once again, and I know I've said this before but I'm saying it again; I AM SOOOO SORRRRYYY! I swear I didn't mean for this chapter to be late!**

**I've been having some real trouble sleeping these past few days and I end up losing time because I'm trying to get some more sleep!**

**I swear to you I will not let you down, though! I will keep to this story, as Mother Logai so eloquently puts it, even if it kills me!**

**Speaking of which, Mother Logai's Jakkai species is actually a part of another fabulously funny comic that I read called "Slightly Damned" written and drawn by the fantastic "Chu"! To read go to either "raizy. deaviantart. com" on Deviantart or the comic's website "sdamned .com".**

**I had a lot of fun introducing Mother Logai to the world of "Tidal Wave"; after all, a story with a kooky old man deserves an equally kooky old lady!**

**Anyways, with promises of a swift update, till next time!**


	10. The Clashing of Waves: Act II, Part IV

**_Chapter 10._**

**_The_**

**_Clashing_**

**_Of_**

**_Waves;_**

**_Act II,_**

**_Part IV_**

* * *

**ME: This chapter is mostly a father's day gift, though it actually focuses a bit more on Mother Logai because I know she just got here but I absolutely adore her already!**

**But thankfully I'll be starting the chapter with a feature of Dr. Marlin to so there could a Father for Father's day after all!**

**Anyways, all you dads out there; YOU ARE AMAZING! To my faithful readers, please and read and review!**

* * *

_"__There's a light  
In the darkness  
Though the night  
Is black as my skin . . . _

_There's a light,  
Burning bright . . .  
Showing me the way . . .  
But I know where I've been . . ._

_There's a cry_  
_In the distance_  
_It's a voice_  
_That comes from deep within . . ._

_There's a cry,  
Asking why . . .  
I pray the answer's up ahead . . .  
(Yeah)  
'Cause I know where I've been . . ."_

_"__I know Where I've Been" – Miss Maybelle_

**~X~**

"It's a Were-beast tooth?" Dr. Marlin sipped at his vanilla cream tea, looking at his colleague.

The now stone-cold sober Dr. Oigi nodded. As he sat across from Dr. Marlin, wearing a pair of sterilized rubber gloves, he carefully held the now properly cleaned and equally as sterilized tooth in between the pads of his index finger and thumb. "Yep. One canine right mesial fang. It's supposed to be a permanent, but considering all the holes in the base and the roots of it, its owner was not very set on keeping that way."

"Canine?" Dr. Marlin raised an eyebrow. "You mean like a Were-dog?"

Dr. Oigi shook his head. "Way too big for just a dog. I probably estimate something of a larger variety; like a fox or a coyote. Hell, even a wolf would make a good match to this."

"I was worried that you would say that." Dr. Marlin groaned, twirling his cup softly and watching the contents spin into a whirlpool inside. "Still any clue, big or small is another piece added to the puzzle."

Dr. Oigi raised his own eyebrow at him. "Yeah, but this tooth's owner somehow being connected to all those horrible deaths over at your town? Found on the person of the _one_ girl that managed to get away in _one piece_? I'm tellin' ya, Haddie, this is one _weird _puzzle."

"You're telling me . . ." Dr. Marlin muttered, sipping at his tea once again, savoring the smooth, creamy texture of the blend.

Dr. Oigi shook his hair at the unsettled look on his colleague's face. He really hated to be the bearer of bad news to one of his good friends; especially to one who was probably the closest thing that he had to father in his life.

Back when he was fresh out of medical school, Dr. Marlin had showed him the ropes of the business, to expected appointments where everything was planned out down to the last detail to sudden emergencies that required a great deal of thought made on your feet. He had been nothing but completely understanding and supportive when Dr. Oigi had decided to go into the work of Veterinarian dentistry; going as far as to helping him get an office set up in the Little Oak Town, as financially demanding as it was, and lending a hand – _Er, _paw – in adopting Stella, voluntarily dealing with the grueling paperwork and the jerky Seranith handlers and such, when the time came for him to get an assistant.

He had also gone out of his way to drag his sorry carcass out of an alley and silence him whenever he started to shoot off babble and random musings like the drunken reprobate he was whenever he had one bottle of ale too many. Which was, of course, most frequently. Daily basis, in fact. Usually every Tuesday and Saturday . . .

Such as what he did today. Which also included him filling a bathtub to the brim with ice that he somehow pulled out of the fridge on his own, stripping him down, much to both of their own embarrassment, and pushing him into the said tub with the butt of his cane. How an old man could be so strong was beyond him.

When he came to, Dr. Marlin instantly forced the mother of all tonics down his throat, going on with a detailed story about the strange going-ons that had been happening over at his town's part of the island. Once coherent enough, Dr. Oigi admitted to having the Were-Mouse catching his attention; brutal murders that no human alive had the stomach to commit, clues and facts all in a mess like the locals and city watch, two half-sharks coming out of nowhere presenting a witness who might hold the key to it all . . . Pretty interesting stuff.

That also included the cavity-ridden fang clutched in his fingers.

"You know, I can barely remember the last time I've seen a fang of this size." Dr. Oigi mused with a thoughtful frown. He spun the tooth around and around, examining its horrid surface again and again and again. "The only other time I've seen a tooth like this was back when I used to take care of that Late Noblewoman's dog . . . . At least I _think _it was a dog."

Dr. Marlin's ear twitched before he looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

Dr. Oigi shrugged haplessly. "I wasn't really sure what to make of it, honestly; it was built like a dog, barked like a dog, smelled like a dog, really reeked too . . ." His nose scrunched up, as if he was recalling the stench. ". . . Kinda like rotten garlic that had a baby with a skunk wearing fisherman's boots before it was blended with oyster juice."

Dr. Marlin made a face as well. He then took one look at the remaining contents of his cup . . . Before slowly setting it down.

"Sure was a brute too," Dr. Oigi took his cup and stood up, leaving the tooth on the table and setting the used cup in the counter. "Always took me five or six minutes to calm him down just to go near him. It took even _longer_ to keep him from biting my hand off each time I stuck it in his mouth to look over his bicuspids." He then sighed with a hint of a smile. "But it was totally worth it in the end. Just to see the smile on that girl's face."

Dr. Marlin propped a hand against his face in casual annoyance. "Don't tell me you only took the job just to flirt with a pretty girl."

Dr. Oigi rolled his eyes as he started to rummage through his cupboards so he could pour his own cup of tea. "Oh, relax, I never even got that far anyways; her parents shipped her off to some fancy college or another one day and I never got called to that house again."

"Why was that?" Dr. Marlin inquired.

"Apparently as soon as the girl left, her mother had the dog killed and tossed into the woods." Dr. Oigi said passively. His tone did nothing to hide the small sad frown that then adored his lips.

Dr. Marlin's ears both went up at that. "Goodness gracious, why would she do that?"

Dr. Oigi shook his head, this time in disgust. "Apparently, the family was one of those rich, noble types, you know? Where everything has to be "_perfectly_ _perfect_" otherwise it's gotta go. According to what I heard from the maids that used to work for the girl's mother, she always hated that dog." He finally found a good-sized cup and set it down on the counter. "Despite being a good guard dog, – _That's why it was always trying to make mince meat out of my arm each time I came over –_ Like I said, it reeked and had _way_ too much of a scruffy appearance to actually be, as the maids said she put it, "_Good for their image_"."

Dr. Marlin's interest was starting to grow at the sound of this story. True, he was disgusted with what he heard so far, having heard too many terrible tales like this many, _many_ times before in his life, but still . . . "But if she hated that dog, why keep it around?"

"For her daughter's sake." Dr. Oigi replied. He had taken his seat by now and was now pouring the tea into the cup, watching as the tannish white liquid flowed into the porcelain. "She always pleaded with her parents that she loved the big guy and insisted on letting it stay, despite their friends' protests. They agreed for her peace of mind, but as soon as she set sail for sea . . ."

". . . The mother offed the dog." Dr. Marlin shook his head in disappointment. _Unbelievable_. It was absolutely horrifying what rich people would do for the sake of their pride and dignity. He had sure seen that more times then he could count on both hands. "I really should be surprised but I'm not. God knows how cruel we humans can be." He rubbed at his temple, a nervous habit of his. "Killing an innocent dog like that simply for vanity."

"Yep." Dr. Oigi nodded, taking some sugar and milk and mixing it together with his finger, never minding the rubber gloves he was still wearing. Or the fact that it was practically poison now to whoever drunk it. "Happens every day, I ashamed to say. Really, you think some people would learn . . ." Once done, he raised the cup to his lips . . . Only to stop short when another thought crossed his mind. ". . . It's still a shame though, what happened to her afterwards."

Dr. Marlin looked at him. "What happened?"

"She was killed." Dr. Oigi said calmly, as if he was talking about the weather or such. "In some sort of freak attack by a wild animal. Came out of nowhere and left just as quickly, the mother _long_ dead by the time the City watch got there. Locals still have no clue as to what did it. Some people say "Manticore", some people say "Hamster", one even said it was "Jabberwocky" but there's no way anything that _big_ and that _crazy_ would actually live here. No squids, no service, know what I mean?"

_No clue_? _Freak attack_? Dr. Marlin gave a small noise at those words. Where had he heard _that_ before? That was dumb question, of course, that was practically the _headline_ of the front page story going on in his town for two months and five weeks straight!

"It really was a shame," Dr. Oigi went on, not noticing his growing frustration. "Despite her attitude, she was a beauty. A real looker . . ." He started to grin dreamily as he begun counting off the details outloud, ". . . Big blue doe eyes, supple curvy figure, long fit legs . . . Maker, I could run miles up those things and back . . . Oh! And her golden blonde hair was to _die_ for!"

"I imagine it _was_ . . ." Dr. Marlin muttered, not really paying attention to his colleague's ramblings.

Rubbing at his chin, he continued to grow steadily more and more frustrated. Why couldn't he figure this out? Innocent lives were at stake, people so scared they terrified at coming out of their houses at night. Not only that but they were his responsibility. As a doctor, he was meant to keep people from losing their lives as a rule. It was his job to heal the sick and wounded, not to let life that just started out be blown out like a flame on a candle. He needed to solve this, he –

_Blonde hair_.

Any negative thoughts that would've come to his head were suddenly frozen in place. Wait . . . Why would that be important –?

**_Blonde _**_hair_.

**_Girl_**.

. . . Those were _connected_.

But how did they . . . ?

Dr. Marlin's eyes widened slowly at the unspoken answer started to ring in his mind. Could it be . . . . ?

"– Her voice wasn't all that bad either!" Dr. Oigi ranted on, absolutely dim-sighted to the epiphany Dr. Marlin was having. "She used to be a singer for some of the most elite before she married. Every time I heard her singing at the piano, it was like I was hearing church bells! True, my ears were always ringing but still, it was nice to listen to –" He was bringing to the cup to his lips as he continued . . . Only to stop short when Dr. Marlin reached over and slapped a hand over it.

Before Dr. Oigi could even ask what was wrong, Dr. Marlin exclaimed, "Roshi, is that delivery service you told me still open?"

Dr. Oigi blinked. "Uh, yeah, it's open from nine to three and only closes on Sunday. Church-going day, you know?"

With that answer in mind, Dr. Marlin wasted no more words; he took his hand off the cup, snatched the tooth, grabbed his satchel and cane where he had set them on the table, scooted his chair back harshly causing a sharp screeching sound to be heard, and bolted out of the room and out the door, his cane tapping erratically as he went. Never once pausing to bid good-bye to Dr. Oigi or even shut the door on his way out.

Dr. Oigi watched as all this happened; totally confused as the door slowly went back and forth from the inertia that propelled it.

"Hmm . . ." He mumbled, once again sticking his rubbery finger in the tea and ruining it even further. "Wonder what got into him. Can't imagine what he would want delivered all of a sudden . . . Ah, well," Taking his finger out, he peeked into the tea's surface. "Maybe I can figure it out over a good, stiff drink."

His mouth finally touched the cup's rim and he sipped at it delicately . . . . _Just_ as suddenly spitting the liquid back out, with wide eyes as a cold, heavy feeling settled in his stomach.

He didn't forget to ask Dr. Marlin something . . . Did he?

To absolutely no one in particular he asked, "_Wait_ . . . Is today Tuesday or Saturday?"

**~X~**

"Oh . . . _Oooh_, my." That was all Mother Logai could think to say as she examined what the young blue-skinned girl in front of her was claiming to once be her shirt.

Mother Logai wasn't too sure about that, however. She had seen some tattered clothing in her day; from mending shirts whenever some of the local boys got into a street brawl after having a few drinks, most of which one who she just sent packing like a baby who was just spanked, from constructing entirely new outfits for those idiots of people who clearly did not understand the matter of being practical and careful.

Right now, she was starting to think that this girl was the latter as she saw her tail-fin change into a fuzzy, cottony design as a mixture of embarrassment and guilt begun to appear across her face. More annoyed then she was amazed at the very existence of this girl's tail, she held up the mangled garment and frowned deeply. "This is just _awful_! Honestly, you must've hated this shirt or something because I barely seen clothes like this that didn't include a vendetta!"

The Sharkman with the loud colors, she was sure his name was "Riley", from where he leaned on his elbow at the counter of her desk grimaced at her admonishment. "Wow, it's that bad, huh?"

"Are you _serious_?" Mother Logai gave him a look. "The fabric's all stretched out from where it was ripped, there's so much of this dark blue coloring around the tear that it would take forever just to wash it out even with the most powerful laundry products that you could find, and the zipper's obviously gotta be removed because without anything to pull it, it might as well just be decoration!"

"So, you can't fix it?" The girl, "Cassie" Mother Logai heard the other Sharkman "Tuff" call her, looked at her sadly.

Mother Logai surprised her by humming lowly as though she was uncertain for a moment or two before suddenly letting loose another sparking grin that made her eyes flicker as she looked back at her. "You joking, sweetie? This is gonna be a _cakewalk_ for me!"

"You sure seem pretty confident." Tuff pointed out as he looked back at her from where he was running his finger absently over some of the colorful fabrics on the rack near them. "It looks like its in pretty bad shape, are you sure it's going to be easy to fix?"

"I never said it was gonna be easy, darling." Mother Logai smiled, draping the fabric onto the counter. "That's what's gonna make it fun for me. I'm never one to pass up a challenge."

"Yeah, you seem like the type." Riley added with a toothy grin. "Especially since you just took down that chum-for-brains yahoo outside like he was a little kid."

Mother Logai rolled her eyes with a groan. "He practically _is_ half the time! I swear ever since that child hit eight feet he's been a royal pain in my tail. Always stirring up trouble and hoping to get out of it with those muscles of his; I promise you those things aren't natural. He must be taking some kind of enhancement potion or something to get them that big, not that it would surprise me."

Cassie raised an ear at her aggravated words. "You don't really sound like you approve." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I don't." Mother Logai hopped off the stool she had been standing on, vanishing behind the counter and trotting around it, coming to head level with Cassie's knees. "I've helped raise a good portion of the children on this island back when I was about your age, my dear. In fact I still do for _their _children to this day; at least for those who actually _do_ have kids. Not like that shrimp-brained Les."

"Les?" Cassie repeated.

"The one that your Shark-Boy here stopped from making a grab at you." Mother Logai clarified.

Cassie and Tuff both tensed, blushing at the coy smile on her muzzle. "He's/I'm not my/her Shark Boy!" They both exclaimed at the same time, earning an even bigger grin from the small furry woman. Like she hadn't heard that line before . . .

"Wait, hold on," Riley held up a hand as a laugh started to grow in his voice. "_Les_? That guy's name is _Les_?"

"I'm not proud of it either." Mother Logai ran a hand through her hair, her own voice growing a laugh. "And _I'm_ the one who named him." Riley snickered at her and Tuff couldn't help but smile a little bit as well. Cassie said nothing but was happy that the subject was changed, even if for a little bit.

"Anyways, back to the subject; it's not gonna be easy to fix Cassie's top but it's doable." Mother Logai put a hand to her chin, her black claws scratching at the fur. "It _will_ take me a while to get the proper material needed for the shirt though. Not many kinds of stretchy, firm fabrics around these parts. I wouldn't even know where I could get the money for it let alone where I could look for fabric stores that have material like that in such short notice . . ."

"I could give you some money if you need it." Cassie offered.

Tuff, Riley and Mother Logai all looked at her, surprised. Huh? Where had that come from? Mother Logai gave her a kind smile. "I appreciate the offer, Honey, but I really don't like charging people who don't really look like they can afford it."

"It's no problem." Cassie brought a hand to her right sleeve and dipped her fingers into the bottom hem. Almost a second later, much to the Luck Brother's puzzlement, she pulled out a small bag that was no bigger than Mother Logai's paw. Handing it to her, she added, "I got plenty more where this came from; this should cover anything you need."

Mother Logai raised a brow at her once again, taking the bag before unceremoniously opening and dumping out its contents. She didn't really expect much. Judging the size of the bag, she probably only had only five copper gavottes in there –

Everyone's eyes, save Cassie's obviously, almost popped out of their heads when small, sparkling jewels of nearly all types and colors fell into the black pads of her paw.

They were clearly well-taken of, judging by the sheen and perfect cuts of the corners and surfaces. They were a small assortment of rubies, sapphires, diamonds and even a few emeralds and garnets. But the very fact they were actually there in the Jakkai's paws was astounding.

"W-well, uh . . ." Mother Logai stuttered, for the first time a little beside herself with shock. ". . . T-this is, uh, quite generous of you, my dear," She used her thumb to spread out some of the jewels thoughtfully. "There's enough in here for me to get me an entire new store if I wanted to."

Tuff and Riley looked at each other in stunned silence. To say they were flabbergasted was an understatement; she had a bag of _jewels_? _Hidden_ in one of her _sleeves_? _How_ the heck did they miss **_that_**?

"So, will it do?" Cassie smiled. Mother Logai tried not to pull a face at the placid smile on her face. She had no idea whether this girl was being sarcastic or serious.

However, she took another look at the jewels in her paw . . . She decided to put the sudden urge of questions boiling in her head on the back burner for now.

After all, when an honest, hard-working woman like her gets a huge pay-off like this, who was she to question her client?

". . . Yep! This'll do, Honey." Mother Logai chirped. Pocketing the jewels for later inspection, – _Never hurts to determine the quality!_ – She then said, "And you know, since you can't really be running around in clothes like that," She gestured briefly to the pants, making Cassie tug at one leg awkwardly and Riley roll his eyes in quiet annoyance. "I'll lend you a pair of pants while I make you a new outfit after I finish mending your top."

"Oh, no, that's not necessary!" Cassie protested politely. "You don't have to –"

"It's no problem, honey." Mother Logai insisted, coming over and patting her thigh like a grandmother would for her grandchild. "Trust me; I'd be doing us _both_ a favor. Just head over to the back room there," She pointed to the curtain on the other side of the room. "And after I grab a few things, I'll be with you shortly."

"Well, alright . . ." Cassie looked towards Tuff and Riley with an apologetic frown. "I'm sorry guys; I promise I won't take too long."

Tuff shook his head with a smile. "Hey, it's okay, take all the time you need."

"Yeah, its not like we got anything else important to do." Riley added, hopping onto the counter and taking a seat.

Cassie smiled once more at them before following Mother's Logai's directions and disappearing behind the curtain. Mother Logai then dropped to all fours and started hopping over to the racks of clothes and begun scanning through them for the pair of pants she promised.

Once they were alone, Tuff then looked towards his twin and whispered as quietly as he could, "_So, what do you think about Cassie?_"

"What?" Riley asked him, a little more loudly then Tuff liked causing him to lower his hand down in a way of saying "Quiet down!" Riley saw this and cast a glance at Mother Logai's back when Tuff pointed to her. He then repeated much more softly, "_What? What are you talking about?_"

"_Cassie,_" Tuff said. "_Do you think she's a bounty hunter or something?_"

"_Why? Because of the jewels?_" Riley asked him.

"_Riley, c'mon, think about it, she must've gotten those things from _somewhere_!_" Tuff stated.

"_Maybe she's a scavenger?_" Riley suggested.

"_Yeah . . . That would _probably_ explain why she was in the ocean in the first place._" Tuff scratched at his cheek. "_But that still doesn't explain how she got that horrible injury on her side._"

"_Didn't you ask her about that last night?_" Riley asked him.

"_She claims she doesn't remember much of what happened and I _do _believe her . . . With a tail like hers, I sincerely doubt that she can lie._" Tuff frowned. "_But it would help if she would tell us a little more about herself and about what happened before she was attacked._"

"_And what about this "Vince" guy she keeps talking about?_" Riley added. "_She totally freaked out when she first met us but now she seems totally fine. He must've been a were-beast or something for her to be so at ease with us now._"

"_Mnh, maybe . . ._" Tuff hummed. "_. . . But I don't want to just ask her question like that out of the blue._" Riley gave him a look. "_. . . No pun intended. I mean, she nearly died for Maker's sake; plus, she has no clue what had attacked her and she's all alone, she's got bigger things to worry about then our prodding into her private business._" Without even knowing it, he started to ramble on as he thought. "_I mean, who are we to talk? We've been there before; people have questioned us about our being here practically all our lives and they've been plenty of suspicion about us being in the wrong when we actually were innocent._"

Riley nodded in agreement. "_Yep. Especially since most of the time it was kinda _sorta_ my fault . . ._"

"Exactly." Tuff said, a little more loudly then he realized but not really caring. "Not to mention we needing to tell her about all those murders that have been going on here lately. So, what the question is, what do we say to her?"

Anything Riley would've said was halted as Tuff was then pulled back by a small but powerful arm wrapping around his neck and nearly causing him to topple backwards from the weight. "I, personally, do not know." Mother Logai's voice suddenly replied right into his ear from where she perched herself on his back with her tail tightened securely around his ribcage. "I do know this, however; if you boys even _think_ of doing _anything_ to upset that girl while she's got that bad of an injury as you say, I will _personally_ hunt you down and sew all the seats of your pants together with the most intricate and complicated of threads and knots, you'll _never_ be able to cut through them."

The face that Tuff and Riley both gave her was one that clearly showed her how much they took her seriously. With that in mind, she hopped off of Tuff, allowing him to regain his standing and rub at his throat like he relieving it from the soreness of tight rope. She picked up the pair of pants that she had set on the floor earlier and made her way to the back room, but not without saying to Riley without looking back, "Riley, get off the counter it's not a cushion seat."

Riley jumped off it like was on fire. Hearing it with her impressive ears, she gave a small chuckle before ducking under the curtain and entering into the back room.

Riley and Tuff went into silence for a minute or two. As though they were fearful of the sharp-tongued Jakkai re-entering the room. Finally, Riley cast Tuff a side-glance. "Do you think she somehow knew our Nanna?"

"If that's the case, then dear Maker, _please_ help us." Tuff replied with an identical expression.

One old lady was scary enough . . .

**~X~**

"Comfortable, Honey?" Mother Logai's question had Cassie looking up from where she was seated.

The Jakkai smiled at seeing her fidget a little in place of the small yet comfortable bed covered with a thin quilt and matching sheets. No doubt she was a little surprised at instantly walking into her home, a gross change from the near closeness of her store; her living quarters also consisted of a small bathroom across from her bed with a toilet and small tub with both faucets for water, a small kitchenette with an equally small fridge that actually fitted nicely for someone of her stature and a table that was horizontal from a desk that was covered in papers filled with endless designs and clothes ideas, rolls of thread, pincushions and scraps and pieces of cloth and fabric. A lone mannequin stood beside it along with a measuring rope and a few longer drapes of fabric thrown over its shoulder. It was cramped, rustic and messy; all in all, home sweet home for the simple tailor.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine, thank you." Cassie nodded calmly, though on the inside she was trying hard not to look too surprised at her surroundings. That didn't stop her from looking around and saying, "Although, I was a bit surprised at suddenly seeing a mattress when I came in."

"I know, I know," Mother Logai waved her off. "Not exactly the expected décor and real estate of a rough-edged, sharp-tongued, grandmotherly lone Jakkai. You're not the first one to make note on that."

"Oh, no, Mother Logai, no, no, I didn't mean it like that –" Cassie started to say but Mother Logai cut her off with a head with a shake of her head.

"It's fine, Cassie, I know what you meant, it's okay." She walked over to her and held the pants up towards her. "Here, slip out of those horridly loud pants and put these on, tell me what you think."

Cassie took the said article of clothing and unfolded it, in its full form she saw that it was a set of baggy chestnut brown drawstring pants, the double pockets and the actual strings at the bottom of the legs colored with a dark green matching the vest she was wearing. Turning it around, she was delighted to see a slip cut open above the seat in the back that was just thin enough not to be very noticeable but still wide enough for the large fin on her tail to slide through. She unfortunately had to cut a rather unflattering hold in the back of Riley's red pants so her tail could come out but she really wasn't proud of the idea that she had ruined a man's piece of clothing.

She also couldn't help but turn a little dark blue at the thought of undressing on the spot, though, even if it was just changing pants in front of an old elderly woman like Mother Logai.

Mother Logai saw her face darken and immediately said, "Oh, relax, Honey, I'm not gonna bite, especially when you got that injury on your person." At Cassie's surprised look, she went on, "I overheard your friends out there talking. They mentioned that you were hurt. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but when you have ears like mine it really doesn't help, ya know?" She grinned cheekily, wagging her ears a little.

Cassie flitted her own ears with a small smile. "I understand. You can't help what you can't help, right?"

"Exactly." Mother Logai nodded. She then trotted over to her desk and started rummaging through the papers. "I gotta look for a pencil and some clean paper, if I _have_ any that is, so you change while I look."

"Alright, Mother Logai." Cassie stood up and started to unbuckle her belt. She had just slipped it out of the loops and was about to unbutton the trousers when Mother Logai added, "Oh, and don't worry about those boys trying to take a peek. I'm pretty sure I've just scared all the hormonal urges away for a good while."

Cassie blushed a little at those words but then frowned at her back. "Mother Logai, I promise you, Tuff and Riley have been nothing but gentlemen to me ever since I met them."

"I'll take your word on that, Cassie," Mother Logai nodded at her voice, her eyes still scanning for a pencil and paper. Finally, she found a piece of a paper without any used measurements or designs scratched all over it and a pencil buried underneath a few wads of cloth. "Still, boys will be boys," She went over to the mannequin and pulled down the measuring rope. "I mean, they obviously find you attractive."

Cassie had pulled one leg into the drawstring pants was in the process of pulling the other up as she said, "I don't think so, Mother Logai."

"Oh?" Mother Logai raised a brow at her in mock surprise. "You mean neither or them hasn't tried to flirt with you even _once_?"

Cassie pulled up the zipper and buttoned the snap, noticing how like Riley's pants, that ended just at the tops of her knees. She considered her words and admitted, "Well . . . Riley certainly did a few times."

"Ah, ya see?" Mother Logai came back over, paper, pencil and measuring rope in paw, just as Cassie had taken her belt and once again re-looped and re-buckled her belt around her hips. "Boys are boys, gentlemen are not; pretty girl walks into the room, common sense goes right out the window." She set her prizes down only a moment to help her with the strings, pulling at them tautly and drawing the baggy sleeves closed. "Learned that lesson very quickly when I was young."

Cassie watched her as she took the rope once again and lengthed it out against the side of her leg. "Well, you sure seem to know how to handle them now."

"Years of experience, honey," Mother Logai stated. She looked up at where the rope's height ended at her waist, hummed in approval at the forty-right mark and quickly grabbed the pencil with her tail, marking down the number and area. "Especially with the life I led before today."

"What do you mean?" Cassie inquired.

"Well, Honey, surely you noticed that people with my kind of appearance aren't exactly common around here." Mother Logai pointed out. Taking the rope and gently wrapping it around her thigh and jotting down the number that same way as before, she said, "Especially since none of my kind are actually born here."

"You mean from the Archipelago?" Cassie asked but she made it sound more like a polite statement.

Mother Logai nodded, measuring her waist and writing down the number. "You got it. You're looking at the first Jakkai to ever be bought and raised here all the way from Fragaria."

"Fragaria?" Cassie blinked.

"It's a large country over in Medius." Mother Logai explained, gesturing for Cassie to sit down on the bed again so she could reach her upper torso. "It's on the far right side of what you call the Western Continent, on the other side of the world, in fact."

Cassie's tail took on a blooming circle design at her words as she looked at her in shock. "You were brought all the way from _there_? That must've taken you months!"

"Well, it wasn't exactly planned, my dear." Mother Logai interjected. She held up the rope to her arm before taking the pencil from her tail and writing down the length and width in paw. "It was all rather spontaneous actually."

Cassie felt herself growing confused. How was it that Mother Logai ended up on the Archipelago from the far reaches of the Western Continent if she never even set her sights on leaving? The only way she could actually picture that happening was that she was brought here by accident or –

Cassie's ears went up as a thought came to mind. A thought that was followed by a horrid feeling rising up from the deepest part of her soul. "Wait . . ." Looking at the Jakkai next to her rolling up the rope and setting it in her pocket, she started, "What you said earlier, about being "bought" here . . ."

Mother Logai gave her a sad smile. "That's right, Honey, you're looking at the former one and only Archipelian Jakkai slave girl."

Cassie was struck speechless. She had no clue how to respond to that.

After all, what were you supposed to say to former slave? _Oh, I'm sorry for bringing up your dark past like a complete idiot but at least you're still alive today and living in a rinky-dink house that also doubles as your store?_

_Definitely_ not.

Mother Logai looked at her curling and twisting patterned fin and chuckled despite herself. Cassie blinked at her, befuddled. "Sweetie, relax, I know it's not easy coming up with a reply to that bombshell. But yours is probably the quietest reaction I've ever seen."

Cassie flushed dark blue again, looking down and tugging at one of the fins on her ears sheepishly. It was a nervous tick that she had yet to get rid of and always found herself doing every now and again each time she was at a loss for words. "S-sorry, I . . . I didn't mean to . . ."

Mother Logai waved her off with a comforting smile. "Ach, forget it, it was in the past; you can't change it but you can learn from it. That's something too many people today don't realize." Reaching back behind her and taking Riley's pants into her paws, she stuck a finger the hole in the seat and wiggled it out the other side, frowning. "Can you do me a favor? Head over to my desk, there should be some red fabric matching this color about the size of my paw and in the shape of a square . . . I want to mend these for Riley real quick before you leave."

Cassie nodded. She stood up and only needed to take three long strides to the desk, making a face at the disorganization of the desk. And she thought Vince was messy . . .

She had started to peek under a slanted stack of paper and cloth when Mother Logai stated, "The day I was taken was rather . . . _Life_-_changing_ for me, to be honest."

Cassie's ears perked and she looked at Mother Logai out the corner of her eye. She now wore a blank, sad smile on her face as she draped Riley's pants across her lap and traced the lining with the tips of her claws. "But then again, whose life wouldn't change when they were suddenly ripped away from home and slapped with a pair of shackles and chains? I was probably about ten years old then, when I had finally chosen my own name . . . Just playing around in the forest without a care in the world. I was supposed to stay near the hut like my elders had said but I was rather impulsive back then, even as a child so naturally I didn't listen. I didn't really believe that anything could happen to me. Dumbest mistake I ever made . . ."

Cassie wasn't sure if Mother Logai knew she was listening or not but didn't comment on it as she continued to shuffle around the desk. "One minute I was drawing little cat faces in the dirt with a stick, next thing I know I had a net thrown over my head and there were tall, looming humans hovering over me. I saw some of the elders coming out and I called to them for help but the humans were quicker . . . That was the first time I had ever seen blood be drawn . . ."

Cassie bit back a gasp but that didn't keep her heart from wrenching at the thought of a young Mother Logai watching helpless as her some of her people were killed.

"I was horrified." Mother Logai said blankly. "I fought against my captors blindly; I bit them, I scratched them, I did everything I could to try and get them to let me go. But they apparently weren't set on having me going kicking and screaming. One of them took a heavy stick and knocked me out hard from behind." She rubbed at the fur covering her wrist nostalgically. "When I finally came to, I was bound with heavy chains, surrounded by other people I didn't know in the same conditions as me, smelling blood, stick and death and swaying on the bottom deck of a sub heading for the Archipelago.

"I struggled to get free of the chains. But each time I pulled, it felt like my arms were going to get ripped out of my sockets. They had even slapped a shackle around our necks so if we tried to escape, we choke to death. It was hopeless. They feed us on rotten scraps of food and dirty water and the only thing that we had that was even close to a bathroom was an old bucket overrun with sewage and piss. It was hell on earth for all of us down there. All you could do was think, pray that the ship would crash, or pray that you meet your early death just so you could be free again.

"I tried not to give up hope. I was named TigerPelt for a reason after all; I screamed as loud as I could, yanked on the chains so hard a few times I swear the wood creaked and inflicted as much damage as I could to any one of the slavers who got near me. All of it was futile, though, because one day, some of the slavers came, held me down and forced some sort of potion down my throat. It tasted terrible and I was grossly attempted to throw it back up, just to show them what for." She stuck out her tongue as if recalling the taste and Cassie was a little hard-pressed not to smile at the expression on her face.

Her comical expression was quickly quelled by a dismayed frown. "By the time they got me to drink the entire potion, everything just got . . . _Weird_." Mother Logai really couldn't think of another word to describe it. "It was like . . . It was like everything had just gotten topsy turvy; the ground suddenly turned into the sky and the ocean was above me while the grass snowed over my head . . . I swear I even saw a rat or two dancing to the tattooed lady song while wearing little hats and twirling little canes . . ." Mother Logai giggled inexplicitly at that part. "Like I said, everything had just gone weird. That kept that up for I don't even know how long. Each the potion wore off, they would just come down and force some more down my throat, like clock-work I went plum-crazy and went right back to wing-nut land.

"During the short time between the dosages that I had _some_ clarity, I hatched a little plan; each time they gave me the potion, they had unchain me so they could hold me down. So If I behaved well enough when they came for me, I might be able to get away. I prayed to every single entity that I could think up that it would work. It was a long shot, sure, but it was still worth a try. Sure enough, when the time came for another dose of the potion, it did. I put on the puppy eyes and stayed calm and quiet when the slavers came to give me more potion." Mother Logai then illustrated her point by enlargening her eyes and batted them sweetly. "Them being the idiots they were, they fell for it. The second the chains were off, I knocked the potion out of their hands and bolted for the door.

"Once I was up and deck, it was mayhem. Each of the slavers tried to grab me but I was too quick for them; apparently I had balled up some energy while I was chained up and was bouncing and pouncing all over the place. I even managed to get a few good shots in towards a few of them, new strength gained from bulking up with all those sessions of pulling and yanking on the chains, I imagine." Mother Logai couldn't help but flex one of her arms with a smile while she unsheathened her claws. "I even left a scar on the one who knocked me out when I was captured. Got him right across his right eye and the bridge of his nose. I can't even begin to describe how _good_ that felt." Mother Logai's smile fell. "My victory didn't last long, I'm afraid. The next thing I knew, I heard a gun fire out and something made the left side of my chest blossom into fire."

Cassie finally found the cloth, tucked under a paper drawn over with a beautiful floral gown design, and brought it back over to Mother Logai who took it wordlessly. "You mean you . . ." Cassie mumbled. ". . . You were shot."

Mother Logai gave a noise of confirmation. "Yep. Worst pain I had ever felt in my life." She picked out a good sized needle from her pincushion strap on her wrist, turned Riley's pants inside out and begun sewing the fabric onto the area with the hole. "Everything started to go fuzzy from around me. I remember falling to the deck . . . I think a few of the slavers were arguing, saying that no one was supposed to kill any of us . . . Something about how "they get nothing for dead slaves"." Cassie shuddered at those words. She stopped when she felt Mother Logai's tail wrap around her waist. Her tail's little tuft of hair tickled her wrist and Cassie was tempted for one moment to play with it but bit back the urge. "They must've decided to do something about me, 'cause then I felt myself being lifted and tossed over the side of the boat."

Cassie snapped her head back at Mother Logai, completely horrified at what she had just said. "They just _threw_ you overboard? Just like that?"

"Well, I think one of them wanted to skin me first." Mother Logai thought with a claw to her chin. Cassie couldn't help the cringe at how lax she sounded. "But they must've changed their mind in the end."

To say Cassie was horrified at this story was an understatement. She had no idea whether to cry or to just throw up at the pain and torture that this woman next to her had gone through.

She was willing to do both just to make the idea of it go away.

Naturally over the years as they traveled together, she and Vince had heard plenty of horror stories from other Fishmen and people passing through on the ocean about the lives of slaves and the perils they faced as such. Including the well-known facts about how they almost **_never_** get away.

Cassie was always left shaking after each tale and would barely let Vince out of her sight for days on end, fearful that he would suddenly be taken away and beaten and broken and destroyed just like all the poor, unfortunate souls in the stories. Despite Vince's reassurances that he would never go and leave her alone like that, she wasn't convinced.

After all, Faust had once said the same thing. And look how he turned out.

She felt a touch at her elbow and she was immediately brought back to earth. She looked down and saw other Logai looking at her with a comforting smile. Cassie blurted out at her, a little confused if not still scared of learning the answer, "I-if you were shot, Mother Logai, and tossed overboard . . . How did you end up here?"

"Obviously I was rescued, Honey." Mother Logai winked at her, filling her with a great deal of reassurance. "By a knuckled-headed, heroic-minded kid who was nearby as I floated up on the Island's beach." She had already finished with Riley's pants and begun folding them, never missing a beat. "When he saw me, he rushed out to save me before I was taken by any stray ocean predator that was nearby and rushed me over to his master, this village's doctor." Satisfied with her folding, she handed them to Cassie, who took them blankly. "After that, long story short, they healed me, I came to and freaked out at the sight of them, calmed down after a very _long_ while of convincing on the knuckle-head's behalf, told them what happened, and they helped me get settled here on Pound Island. A few decades later, here we are now."

Cassie looked down at the pants. She was amazed to see that not only did Mother Logai patch up the hole, but also sewed it up on the outside like it was never even there. But another thought crossed her mind. Why stay here on the Archipelago? Hadn't she worried about her family? Did she believe her family was still waiting for her? She decided to speak her thoughts by asking, "Why did you stay here, though? Didn't you want to go home? Didn't you miss your family?"

Mother Logai scratched her cheek with hum of thought. "Well . . . Like everyone else who would, I did dream about going home. But by the time I fully healed, I realized something," She gave a mighty shudder and grimaced at what she said next. "I absolutely **_hated_** the water. I couldn't even go on the makeshift rafts I made by hand without getting seasick. And Maker knows going on a sub wasn't an option! No, thank you!"

She crossed her arms as she looked down in contemplation. "When I finally started thinking about going back, I realized there really wasn't anything for me to go back _to_; being born a Jakkai, you don't really know who your biological parents are and you're raised together with other boys and girls in the nest. I didn't really have any friends, they all _apparently_ thought I was too _butch_ or _scary_ or something like that so they all stayed away from me. None of the Jakkai boys even found me attractive if you could believe it! The nerve!" This time, Cassie did giggle a little at the puffed up expression on her face.

"We weren't even allowed to bring any humans to the village, even for a while just to play, one of those Podunk villages, ya know?" Mother Logai shrugged. "All in all, living here is **_way_** more fun living here; I get to meet species of people I've never dreamed of seeing, I get to make amazing works of clothes for both work and pleasure, plus I ended up getting a kick-ass name like "Mother Logai"! I have no idea where they got _that_ from, but still, how cool is that?" Mother Logai grinned cheekily, nudging Cassie playfully and causing both girls to giggle.

The both of them were acting so much like old friends reminiscing that Cassie couldn't help but enjoy the air of ease that developed around them. After all the craziness and horror that she had just heard about, a little levity was happily welcomed.

Mother Logai's face grew more relaxed and her smile shrunk but still sparked with humor and fire. "I like how my life turned out. True, it had a rocky beginning but no one's story ever starts out easy. Each of us have our own hurdles to face, our own horizons to broaden. What's important is what we learn. And the people who are right there with us to watch us make our tumbles and falls."

Cassie looked at Mother Logai in awe. This was a woman who had climbed her own ladder in life, watched as each step she took forged a place in her soul. She's faced many of life's downsides but still continued to fight back and stand her ground. She couldn't help but remember the last time she felt such admiration for someone.

"Mother Logai . . ." Mother Logai's ears twitched at the question she was ready to ask. ". . . Whatever happened to that boy who saved you?"

Mother Logai smirked with a short laugh. "The knuckle-head still lives and grows as old as I am now . . . And I _still_ have to make sure he doesn't kill himself just for the sake of his duty to the people."

Cassie's ears flitted and she blinked once again. Duty to the people . . . ?

_WHUD!_

"ACK!"

_THUMP! THUD!_

Both Cassie's and Mother Logai's ears went up at those sounds. They looked towards the doors and blinked at the sight of a sheepish Tuff and a disgruntled Riley ontop of him flat on the floor with the curtain draped over the back of them. It was clearly obvious that they had been busy with eavesdropping for the last few minutes.

Mother Logai simply shook her head and hopped off the bed. "Speaking of which," She begun, padding over to them and glaring down at the both of them who looked fearfully back up at her. "I think you two knuckle-heads have your own story to tell your lady friend here, don'tcha think?"

With the sheepish grins and messy replies that they gave together to her in response, Cassie, from where she still sat on the bed, had only one sure thought.

That she was in for a heck of a story.

* * *

**ME: WHEW! This is probably the second-longest chapter I've written for this story! 14 pages!**

**I'm sorry if all of this chapter seems forced but Mother's Logai's story just sort of . . . wrote itself. And can anybody take a guess as to who she's referring to as the "Knuckle-Head"? A double-chocolate brownie to whoever guesses right!**

**Anyways, enough of rambling! Until next time!**


	11. The Clashing of Waves: Act III, Part I

**_Chapter 11._**

**_The_**

**_Clashing_**

**_Of_**

**_Waves;_**

**_Act III,_**

**_Part I_**

* * *

**ME: Just a quick note here; from now on each time I pass the tenth mark of this story, such as 10, 20, 30, etc. I'm going to give special shout-out to all my reader(s) who have taken a few moments out of their time to read this story and/or review it!**

**On Fanfiction. net;**

**To :icon14AmyChan:, your reviews always leave me so filled with giddiness at your curiosity and your humor; you always find some way to crack me up!**

**On Deviantart. com;**

**To :iconDoodleBotBop:, your comments always mean so much to me! You give me so much information on Cassie that it gives me so much to work with and I greatly appreciate that! I truly hope I'm doing this AU story behind your amazing pictures justice!**

**To :iconTheSilverTopHat:, Your reviews mean a whole ton to me as well; I'm still a little fuzzy on some facts on the Archipelago and the people and magic that surround it and I'm so happy you're there to give me a hand when I need it!**

**To :iconJoy-horses:, You have a way of being honest and funny at the same time! I truly do hope you keep commenting on Tidal wave!**

**Okay, that's all my main readers for readers and reviewers for now! I truly hope I'll have more in the future!**

**Anyways, on with the story!**

* * *

_"__Boys and girls of every age,  
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?_

_Come with us and you will see_  
_This our town of Halloween . . ._

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween . . ._  
_Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!_

_This is Halloween, everybody make a scene,_  
_Trick or treat 'till the neighbors gonna die of fright!_

_It's our town, everybody scream!  
In this town of Halloween . . ."_

_"__This is Halloween" – Marilyn Manson_

**~X~**

The Master was growing impatient.

He could smell his game coming.

His bait was _close_. Just a few steps within reach.

Just a few steps within reach . . . And with those _Sharks._

Those _lowly_ half-breeds. He can practically _smell_ that filthy human scent hanging among them.

They were still near his game. They were _still_ _mocking_ him. Taking what was rightfully **_his_**. And **_strutting_** that _right_ in _front_ of **_him_**.

What **_right_** did they have to **_his_** game?

She was _his_.

He tracked her down, he marked her, she was _his_!

_HIS_!

She was his from the beginning! They had **_no_** right to move in on his prize!

For three sun rises and three sun sets he waited.

The Master could not wait any longer.

A low growl sounded from beside him. He looked down and smiled.

He wasn't only one growing impatient.

"Yes . . ." He growled back to his second-in-command. "You are getting hungry as well . . ."

Another growl was his response.

The Master grinned. ". . . Well then, my dear comrade, it's time for us to finally take what belongs to us."

Another growl, more happier and more guttural than before, sounded from his second-in-command this time. Followed by a feral grin that matched his own.

It was time.

Time to finish what he had started. For _good_.

"Let the hunt begin."

**~X~**

Cassie almost stumbled in place from what she had just heard. "So, you're saying that something's been killing innocent people?"

Riley nodded. "Or just innocent girls. According to what –" He snorted a little, much to their chagrin. "– According to what _Les_ and what Mother Logai said."

Cassie wrung her hands. "And I'm the _only_ one that's gotten away? _Alive_?"

"So it seems." Tuff nodded sadly. "That's one of the reasons why Dr. Marlin wanted us to bring you to him. He says that you may be the key to putting an end to these murders."

"Oh . . . So it really does depend on me, doesn't it?" Cassie mumbled. She stopped from where she had been pacing around the campfire, looking down at the ground. Tuff and Riley watched her, their expressions easily portraying their guilt. She didn't need to look behind her to see her tail growing a deep blue river, as dark and as heavy as the sudden weight that came over her shoulders.

Everyone knew the phrase of suddenly baring the weight of the world on their shoulders. In this case, it was more like the weight of Great Maple Town; that fact did nothing to ease the burden.

The three had managed to make it back to camp before the sun set. Which was rather stupendous considering they ended up spending a great deal of time at Mother Logai's store then intended and the amount of shock they gained after the said Jakkai pointed out what time it was. Giving a hasty good-bye with a promise to drop by again for obvious reasons, Cassie swore that Tuff and Riley were trying to rip her arms out of her sockets as they pulled her out of the town and into the forest.

There they began a mad dash to reach the end of it, this time not allowing for any moment of rest. Cassie's side had started to burn up with the forced exertions and the medicine they had given her earlier beginning to wear off, making it hard for her to breathe again; Tuff saw this and immediately pedaled back and scooped her up in his arms, much to her embarrassment and protest, and rushing back to join his brother. She felt her side aching again from the memory of her having to hold on to the Sharkman tightly as she was jostled and shaken in his arms with each step Tuff took.

Finally, after nearly fifteen minutes of hard sprinting that would've made the greatest of athletes envious, they finally caught sight of their camp. Nearing the fire-pit, Tuff made sure to set Cassie down as gently as he could on the log closest to him before both he and Riley collapsed onto the ground, totally exhausted. Riley dryly joked about his heart popping somewhere in their race as he took in massive gulps of air into his throat.

Cassie, wanting to help, quickly gave them some water that they had stored on their sub, along with a little for herself to make the medicine into tea with as per were the instructions that were explained to her earlier by Tuff. As they gulped down the water and Cassie started the fire and put the kettle on, she placed her hands squarely on her hips and demanded that the two men explain themselves and what in the Maker's name was going on.

Despite being a little out of breath, they both of them only shared a look with each other and with the girl who was giving them the most affirmative glare they had ever seen from her, before reluctantly agreeing. Although now, she was sure that she was probably better left off in the dark.

All of it was too much to take in; a string of mysterious, gruesome killings, a monster that no one can identify and her being the only breakthrough they had to solving it?

This whole situation sounded exactly like a situation out of one of her old mystery murder novels.

Only problem, this wasn't a book. In a book, whenever you got frustrated with the progression of a story, you could just skip to the end and use the knowledge you gained from the earlier pages to piece the puzzle together.

No, this wasn't a book. Because regardless of now knowing the conflict of the story, Cassie's memory was emptier than a lonely bookshelf.

She wished now more than ever that Vince was here.

Tuff and Riley watched her wrap her arms around herself as she grew quiet. They didn't have to be witch doctors to know the feelings and thoughts were running through her head. They didn't really agree with the idea of a young woman like Cassie suddenly being tossed right into the middle of a situation that she should have no hand in to begin with, but neither one had a say in the matter.

She had been attacked without any provocation, gravely injured before she had gotten away by some sort of miracle, and was drifted into their hands while hanging dangerously on the brink of death by some crazy twist of fate.

Either someone _up_ there was giving them a chance to do some good or someone _down_ there just wanted to give them another opportunity to get screwed over.

It would not be the _first_ time that's happened.

Either way, they were all here now, with the girl who's face did not look like she had anything to give them and the two brothers who were completely clueless as to what to do if they did get an answer. And there was nothing that could be done about it.

Even more so when Cassie finally looked back towards them, her face as grim as their thoughts. "So, me remembering who attacked me is the only way to stop all this?"

Inwardly wincing at her saddened tone, Riley nodded again. "Yep. Hate to say it, but yep."

Cassie's ears dropped. She looked to ground again and brought her hands up to her head. "I can't . . . I'm not sure I remember . . ." She shut her eyes. The world disappeared as she focused hard on her memory.

She could feel them shuffling like a deck of cards, falling blissfully into place.

_Swimming with Vince –_

_Coming over to Blue Island –_

_Swimming up to the surface –_

She was just about to reach the middle of the deck. A sudden heavily shrouded hand then clasped over it, causing the flimsy cards still falling from above to clatter ontop of it and fall off into the unknown.

_Howling –_

_Fear –_

_Teeth snapping –_

_Having to get away –_

_Pain –_

Her head began to ring with agony again, making her temple swell much to her frustration. She felt her eyes tighten at the feel of it and opened them, burning holes into the grass at her feet. Once again, she had nothing. How could she be so clueless? Better yet, how _useless_?

She felt small tears burning in her eyes when without warning, she let out a shout of frustration. "Why can't I _REMEMBER_ anything?!" Tuff and Riley jumped at the volume of her shout. Not caring the act was childish and most likely more hazardous to her growing migraine; Cassie started to slam the heels of her hands into her head hard, all the while biting off, "Stupid, _stupid_ _useless_fish-girl! Why can't you just –"

Riley sprung to his feet and rushed over to her, grabbing her wrists and stopping her before she could ram a hand into her rapidly aching temple. "Hey! HEY! Don't do that! You're banged up enough as it is, so don't make it worse!"

Cassie blinked up at him, somewhat confused as to why he was stopping her from punishing herself. Riley somehow sensed her unspoken question and caught sight of the small tears threatening to leak from her angrily sparking eyes because then he gave a light sigh. "Look, don't go beating yourself up over this. You're not useless and you're _definitely_ not stupid." He grinned at her, hoping to lighten her spirits a little. "I mean, after all, you did get away from the thing in the first place, right? If you can do that, then you gotta have brains stored in that pretty little head of yours."

Cassie gave another blink before saying in a sharp tone. "I only got away because I was **_lucky_**!" She yanked her wrists back, making Riley blink this time at her actions, before tightly tucking them across her chest. "And I don't even know _how_ because that thing _apparently_ scared me enough to make me suppress my memory! So not only have I lost my friend's whereabouts in the process, I lost a crucial piece of memory that could actually be used for good but each time I'm _this_ close to grabbing it," She inched her fingers together in emphasis to her point. "It's taken away again and I'm left with nothing but a headache and a reminder of that on my _side_!"

Both Riley and Tuff remained silent as they looked at the hand pointing to her covered yet injured side. She looked down at her feet for probably the third time that night, allowing a stray tear to make its way down her the curve of her cheek and adding bitterly, "To top it all off, you both might end up getting hurt or worse because you were ordered to protect me and I can't do anything at all to help; how do you call that _not_ being useless?"

Tuff stood up and looked at her before saying simply. "Because you can't help what you can't help."

Cassie looked up at him, confused. She watched as he came over to the both of them, saying, "You can't just expect things to turn out exactly as you want them to; there are things that are just beyond our control. Like you end up attacked when you never wish for harm or you end up losing parts of your memory that you didn't think you'd lose . . . Or being blamed for something that wasn't even your fault to begin with."

Cassie looked up right into the faces of the two Half-Sharks in front of her. Riley was smiling gently down at her and Tuff was doing his best to show matching support in his voice as he continued, "Nothing ever comes as expected. It's one of the simple rules of life. You can't change that. But what you can do is not go and blame yourself for what can't be helped. You simply just find a way to fix it or cope with it and hope for the best."

Cassie simply looked at the both of them in silence. She was speechless at his words. The both of them knew this said rule for a fact and they were content with it. She was surprised to say the least.

She usually prided herself on how to see people as they were. She thought that she had them figured out pretty quickly back when they met. How they often go about their day, how they react to each other and trouble while relying heavily on the natural "flight or fight" instinct. That was proven when Tuff and Riley reacted accordingly around her when she threatened them for answers earlier on and when they were trying to stall for time to escape when Les confronted them back in the Great Maple's Marketplace.

So how did she miss the fact that trouble always found the both of them yet they just brush it off and wake up with the next day? She hadn't an idea whatsoever.

. . . Maybe it wasn't something she could help. Just like Tuff said, right? . . . Right.

Riley watched another tear sneak out of her eye and only shook his head good-naturedly before kneeling down and ripping off one of the patches of the knees of his pants. "Good point, brother." He said with a smile. "No sense kicking ourselves over from things that Ol' mother fate throws our way." Cassie started a little when Riley then brought the patch up to her face, wiping the tear away before gently sliding it over to her other cheek. "Just grin and bear it. It's easier just to accept things as they are and get on with it."

"Riley," Cassie begun, bringing her hands up to his wrist to stop him. "You don't need to, I mean, your –"

Riley shook his head. "Ah, forget it, Cassie. I'll just ask Mother Logai to fix it up for me next time we go see her." He then winked at her with another flirty grin. "Besides, I'd do anything to stop you from crying. You don't know it, but you actually look a _lot_ better when you're smiling."

Cassie said nothing, only allowing him to finish his work with a light blue dusting on her cheeks.

She couldn't help but feel flattered in spite of the situation. She, obviously, was not one of those giggly, bubbling types of girls that got all embarrassed the instant an attractive yet strange guy gave her a soothing compliment. Maker knew that to be true. But Tuff and Riley weren't strangers. She knew the two Sharkmen, one of which smiling in satisfaction with his work and the other trying hard not to once again roll his eyes at his twin's flirtations, not too much but within a comfortable degree. They barely knew anything about her yet they were going out of their way to cheer her up when they could've just told her to get over it and stop crying or left her alone entirely.

Not that Vince ever said anything like that to her; he wouldn't even be with her if that were the case, but still, the motion was well-appreciated.

Cassie felt her fingertips graze Riley's hand as he finished; a small gesture to show that she was grateful for him wiping her tears way which Riley took with another grin. "Riley . . . Tuff . . . I –"

Tuff felt something vibrate thunderously on the very back of his brain. He felt his hair literally stand on end as a very, _very_ cold chill run down the curve of his spine to the tips of his toes, making everything in him twist tighter than a rusted coil. _Danger _. . ._ Something deadly was coming _. . . _Run_, _get away, run . . . !_

Cassie saw Tuff straighten out and felt her heart drop at the sudden panicked look in his eyes. "Tuff, what is it? What's wrong?" Cassie asked, she and Riley both looking at him.

Tuff's breath caught in his throat, making him hard to answer and his voice choke a little at the oppressive chill burning through him. "W-we are _not __alone_."

Anything else that Cassie would've asked or Tuff would've said was shushed by the sound of a growl.

Riley, Cassie and Tuff whirled their heads towards the sound and each froze at what they saw.

A large, bushy-furred, mean-looking dog slowly stalked out of the forest, each twig under its paws snapping effortlessly as though they were bones it seemed eager to break. Without a doubt their bones. It was about triple the size of Tuff and Riley and then some, with messy, blotchy goldenrod and gray fur and a collection of black spots dotting its shoulders and going down the back, it's bowed legs and paws and tail were the same color black, each digit on them ending with white, thick and lethal claws. Under a shrub of scraggly, ratty blackish brown hair, they could see the near pure white color of its eyes, glaring hungrily at the three of them as its large tongue curled out of its mouth and around its great, big sharp yellow teeth.

Everything about this beast was pure muscle and power. And everything else that made its aura was fueled by nothing but absolute and utter _hunger_.

Tuff and Riley instantly got in front of Cassie, the both of them stiff-backed with fists clenched and shoulders squared. They both of them were thinking the same thing; they had promised Dr. Marin that they'd keep her safe and they aimed to keep it.

After all, like their mother always said, when a Quillotian promises something, they keep it.

Cassie felt her ears drop in annoyance at that but the rising ache in her side put aside any complaint that she had on the matter. She did know how to fight, but considering everything else there wasn't much point to it if you had a number of stitches sewn in you. Quietly frustrated with this thought, she simply pressed a hand to elbow of the brother closest to her and gripped her dainty hand around the joint, hoping to get some solid ground to stop her own chill of fear from rising quickly within her.

It was a good thing too, because when the creature got close enough; close enough for them to smell its raunchy and vulgar scent something fierce and catch enough hints from its hard to see human-like features to see it to be a were-dog, it growled out in a nearly impossible sentient tone that sent a great shiver into their bones, "**_. . . You Half-Sharks . . . Are interfering . . . With The Master's hunt . . ._**"

Tuff and Riley glanced at each other. The Master? The hunt? What was this thing talking about?

Cassie, from behind them, drew one of her ears up at those words. "_"Master"_ _. . . "Hunt" . . .?_"

Tuff turned his eyes back to the Were-Dog, watching warily as it started to edge toward them, drool dripping from its mouth. He tried his best not to let the fear show in his voice as he said, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. If our being here is a problem then we'll go."

The creature grinned near manically at that answer. "**_Yes, _****_you_****_ will go . . . But you will leave The Master's prize to me . . ._**"

Riley bared his own fangs towards the Were-Dog, his heavily accented voice on the edge of a growl. "What are you talking about, flea-bag? What prize?"

The Were-Dog lifted a paw and pointed simply to Cassie from where she peeked out from behind Tuff. "**_. . . The fish girl . . . She belongs to The Master . . ._**"

"Fat chance!" Cassie snapped abruptly, taking a step out from behind Tuff and jutting out a hip in defiance. "I am _nobody's_ prize!" Tuff and Riley, despite being as nervous as she secretly was, had to admire the small blonde's gusto.

"**_STUPID GIRL!_**" The Were-Dog barked. "**_There's no point to fighting it! You are The Master's game! He has claimed you for himself and there is nothing you can do about it!_**"

"Oh, we'll just see about that!" Riley rumbled boldly, his hands going to the hilt of the massive sword that he had strapped to his back earlier that morning and pulling it out, letting it sing as he braced its weight easily in his two hands. Tuff followed his lead, lowering his hands to the belt on his waist and gripping the identical hilts on each side before sliding them out smoothly from their sheaths and crossing them in front of him with a near silent clang.

Cassie didn't ask Tuff for her knife. He was still carrying it in the satchel that hung at his waist and she berated herself for not asking for it sooner. She didn't want to draw attention to herself while she took two small steps backwards towards the fire and slowly reached down for the kettle . . .

"**_Foolish half-breeds!_**" The Were-Dog went into a fit of something that sounded like a sick remix of a cough and a laugh. "**_You have no right to defy The Master! This is his domain and you have no cause to be here!_**" The hacking swiftly stopped, a little _too_ quickly for Tuff and Riley's liking. "**_If you dare to take what The Master has claimed as his own, you both shall pay the price . . ._**"

"Oh, like we haven't heard _that_ before." Tuff rolled his eyes at his dry joke as Riley huffed in agreement beside him.

"**_. . . Very well, half-breeds . . ._**" The Were-Dog snarled, tapping its claws against the ground, licking its chops one last time. "**_. . . Then you both shall die LIKE _****_DOGS_****_!_**" Without warning, it sprung towards them, claws raised and teeth wide open thirsty for blood.

Tuff, Riley and Cassie immediately jumped out of the way, leaving it for nothing to meet but the fire. The Were-dog's paws landed straight into the center of it, making it unleash a great howl of pain and nearly topple back as it yanked them back out. When it brought them to its face, it went wide-eyed at the amount of third-degree burns and singed fur on them. Anger quickly quelled its shock and it snapped its head towards the three of them, a fierce growl climbing out its throat. It opted to stand upright on its bowed legs, choosing to spare its hands anymore pain then they already endured, and twisted itself around before rushing towards them.

Tuff reacted first; bringing both his swords up in a criss-cross and meeting with bottom of its arms full-on when it swung down hard towards his head. He forgot to account for the amount of strength it was going to put into its swing however, because he nearly bent backwards at the sudden force that jarred through his wrists and into his arms. Grunting, he did his best to keep his arms up and put everything in his upper body to push the Were-Dog arms back.

Tuff also tried his hardest not to throw up at the blunt force of odor coming from its underarms. Seriously, have dogs never _heard_ of personal hygiene?

He didn't have time to ponder on that or otherwise kick the beast away from him, because Riley then came over and tackled the Were-Dog right in the side of its ribcage and sent both him and it to the ground. The Were-Dog landed flat on its stomach, giving Riley a chance to loop its arms under its shoulders and bring his hands behind its neck in a tight and effective choke-hold. He relying wholly on his natural Sharkman strength to subdue this overgrown poodle and hoped this would be enough to end it.

While this went on, he both stuck his tongue out and made a gagging sound at the utter stink of this thing's hair under his chin. His thoughts were nearly the same as his brother's. _When_ was the last time it took a _bath_?

The Were-Dog grunted and snarled underneath Riley, wildly snapping its teeth and whipping its tail blinding behind them in a mad attempt to get him off. When that didn't work, it quickly pushed itself up despite the pain that flared through its paws and flipped itself over; landing fully on Riley and earning a loud and surprised "Yolp!" before his arms loosened almost instantly.

Cassie exclaimed Riley's name in fright on instinct, drawing the Were-Dog's attention. Before either one of the twins could stop it, it flipped back onto its feet and charged towards her. "**_You're who I want! YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!_**" It bellowed madly.

"I don't think so!" Is all Cassie said before she snapped her arm out and hit the beast square in the jaw with the near-steaming hot kettle with all the energy she had on her good side, resounding a large crack from the metalwork and the bones of the monster's chin. It also yelped at the sting of the hot metal branding on her thick-furred skin.

Before the Were-Dog could recover, she swung hard again, again and again, creating a steady rhythm of cracks and crunches while bashing the heck out of the kettle. Huge droplets of tea spurted out of the currently-being destroyed kettle and hit a few spots on Cassie's hands and the creature's face, making them wince from the scalding hot water. Ignoring the burning liquid, she gave another swing that was harder than the last . . . Only to have the Were-dog grab her wrist, stopping it in mid-swing before it could do anymore damage.

The Were-Dog clutched her wrist so tightly that Cassie cried out and unwittingly let go of the kettle, making it drop to the ground with a thud. She tried to bite back tears as the Were-Dog then swung her up like a piece of string, causing her bad side to pull as her body unwillingly twisted and threw her down hard to the ground. The back of her head cracked painfully against the ground's hard surface, grunting at the blooms of pain that traveled from the crown of her head to her shoulders and the grueling feeling of wrongly-pulled muscles in her thin arm.

"**_You are going to regret that, you little fish!_**" The Were-Dog growled before then adding insult to injury by stomping down hard on her side. Cassie heard herself scream shrilly at the mind-shattering pain that thundered in her. She pounded on the beast's leg as hard as she could to get it off her, but it only dug deeper into her side, making spots start to dance in her eyes. "**_Once I take you to The Master, he will make suffer!_**"

"GET OFF OF HER!" Tuff shouted as he ran towards them with swords at the ready. The Were-Dog only growled as swiped out a thick arm, catching Tuff in the chest and sending him flying right into a recovering Riley, making them both crash to the ground.

"Tuff! Riley! _AGGH!_" Cassie shrieked again when the Were-Dog once again stamped its foot. She could feel her vision go dark again. If she didn't do something now, she was done for –

She felt something blink in her head. Something familiar. She almost smiled. _DUH!_

The Were-Dog glared back down at her with a toothy grin that rivaled Riley's in sardonic glee. "**_You are finished, weakling!_**"

Cassie only needed a second to concentrate. She shut her eyes tightly and thought hard on all the jumbled nerves that were collected in the base of her tail. Through the bundles of pain and numbness that threatened to follow, pure raw energy started to come alive. It shot straight up through her back and piled up onto the corona of her eyes, reminding Cassie of that sweetly familiar tingle. The same feeling continued to build and build and build in her tail, growing a great ball that would've rivaled a rock boulder until she could barely control it any longer.

She was sure her eyes were glowing near white and sparking currents when she snapped open her eyes and saw the Were-Dog's body being lit up from above her. Paying no mind of its confusion, she grabbed the ankle still on her and uttered lowly, "Let's just see about that."

With those words, she let go of the ball.

_SKRZAKKK!_

"**OWOOOOOHHHHH****!**"

The Were-Dog's body lit up like a malfunctioning firework; an explosion of crazed energy and light that would've made Cassie cover her eyes if her own weren't ablaze. Her tail was blank but was instead filled with a bright, neon yellow white shine that would've put the color of the purest of light magic to shame.

Cassie had no idea if Tuff and Riley were watching but she didn't let that make her let up at all in her blast. Her mind was in a total adrenaline-powered haze, the whole world shut out save for the river of power erupting out of her. Nothing else mattered to her then. All she wanted was to get. This. _Stupid_. _Dog_. **_OFF_**!

A small thought tickled in the back of her mind, though. One thing that would've made her laugh for sure if the scenario were any different. Vince would sure have been proud if he were here.

The haze started to evaporate all too soon. Her sight was definitely beginning to grow black now as the tingle shrunk back down from her eyes and down her spinal column. The ball was starting to deflate and the powerfully shocking energy was dying down into nothing fast. The pressure from the Were-Dog's foot had let up on her grieving side but with the liquid fire slowly engulfing her, she barely registered the difference of it being there or not anymore.

From what she didn't see she registered by sounds and touch. She felt herself falling back and hitting something strong and warm and thick. She noted the smell of books, fish and tea. _Tuff_. Tuff must've caught her as she fell. But where was Riley?

She heard the Were-Dog roar through the fogginess clouding her ears, in what could only be described as near insanity. "**YOU****LITTLE****SHRIMP****! YOU ****WENCH****! I'LL ****KILL**** YOU ****MYSELF****!**"

Riley finally made himself known, shouting ferociously, "_IN YOUR __**DREAMS**__, __**UGLY**__!_"

Cassie would've shuddered if she could. His voice sounded so inhuman now. He sounded as guttural and as beastly as Tuff had back in town if not more. He even sounded close to Vince whenever he snapped.

Just like that one time . . .

Cassie heard four things echo which sounded more like booms that matched the pace of her own heart as it pumped in her ears.

"**_RRRROOOAAAAGGGHH–_**"

_SHUNCK!_

_WHUMP!_

"_CASSIE_!"

At that last sound, the sound of Tuff crying her name above her, Cassie dropped into the dark.

**~X~**

Dr. Marlin practically kicked down the door to his own small hospital in his hurry to get inside. There was no time to waste. If he was right, he had to hurry. Arthritis and aches be damned.

Once he was clear of the door, he looked around in such a way that would've given one whiplash. Where the hell did he put that bookcase of his? Granted, it was a little hard to see because of the darkened shadows that coated his surroundings. Luckily, since he was a Were-Beast, unexplained creatures that had always learned how to evolve to adjust to their environment, he could easily make out every detail of his office with his old, yet lively dark eyes. If he could just find it –

He almost slapped himself in the head when he finally caught sight of it, still tucked underneath his medicine cabinet. Of course it was there. Cripes, he _had_ to be getting old.

He rushed over to it, falling down to his knees and ignoring the small ache of protest the joints sent at the force of them being rattled around so much. He set his cane down, reached out and started pulling out books one by one, skimming over the cover and throwing them to the ground when they didn't bare the one he wanted. This continued on for two minutes, much to Dr. Marlin's great annoyance and impatience, until he found himself holding a thick, blue journal with only a black label decorating its surface.

He didn't any light to read the title, **_"Diagnoses and Autopsies"_**.

Finally, thank Maker, he found it! He never thought he would be happy to see it, seeing that he both revered and despised this journal, but still that didn't mean he wasn't relieved that he found it all the same.

Without any further hesitation, he opened it and begun flipping through the pages rapidly until he came to the one of his desire.

**_"_****_Tuesday, the 7_****_th_****_; Autopsy"_**

He could care less about how damaging reading in the dark was for his eyes; he had to make sure his theory was correct. He carefully dissected each word written in his almost legible scrawl carefully through his head. He read on in silence for a few precious moments of time before coming to what he almost hoped he wouldn't see.

Once read, all he could do was say, "Oh, Dear mother of the Maker . . ."

* * *

**ME: WHAT? What is it Doc, WHAT DID YOU FIND?!**

**Dr. Marlin: (Crosses his arms stubbornly) You're just going to have to be patient and wait, young lady!**

**ME: Oh, fine! 'Till next time folks!**


	12. The Clashing of Waves: Act III, Part II

**_Chapter 12._**

**_The_**

**_Clashing_**

**_Of_**

**_Waves;_**

**_Act III,_**

**_Part II_**

_"__Desperate . . ._

_Desperate . . ._

_You're reachin' out,  
And no one hears your cry.  
You're freakin' out again,  
'Cause all your fears remind you . . ._

_Another dream has come undone.  
You feel so small and lost,  
Like you're the only one.  
You wanna scream,_

_'Cause you're desperate . . ._

_You want somebody, just anybody_  
_To lay their hands on your soul tonight._  
_You want a reason to keep believin'_  
_That some day you're gonna see the light . . ."_

_"__Desperate" – David Archuleta_

**~X~**

SNAP!

_Cassie's head whirled around. She was standing in the middle of a forest. What the world? How did she get here?_

_Her hand unconsciously drifted to her side; she was startled when she looked down she saw her side was totally undamaged. In fact, looking herself over, she saw herself dressed in the same clothes she wore before. Nothing about her was damaged; even her shirt was still in one piece._

_She immediately grew disconcerted. Something was not right here . . ._

_Like for one thing, how did she get here? Where was she? Where were Tuff and Riley? How did she get back in her old clothes? Nothing made sense –_

_Her thoughts came to a grinding halt when her eyes caught sight of a tree. _

_She slapped her hands over her mouth to cover the scream that was begging to be let out._

_What she saw was something that she never wanted to see again for the rest of her natural life._

_How the world was she seeing this again? The only place she could actually picture seeing this was -_

_No, wait . . . This wasn't just _a _forest. This was _the _forest._

_The forest where she was attacked._

_The forest where that thing almost killed her._

_The forest where the –_

_Wait._

_Her eyes widened and her heart beat like it was about to drop out from under her feet._

_This was the spot._

_This place with this . . . . This was where the monster had –_

_"__How . . . ?" A bone-chilling, deathly low growl rumbled behind her. "How are __**you**__ still alive . . . ?"_

_Cassie's blood ran cold. Forget her feet. Now her heart wanted to drop straight through to the ground._

_"_. . . Cassie . . . !"

_She slowly turned around; sweat already beginning to break out of her forehead . . ._

" . . . Cassie!_"_

_She only took one look at the voice's owner, her heart pumping like it was about to burst from fear . . ._

_"_Cassie!_"_

_Cassie begun to scream as it lunged for her . . . But what was it?_

_And how did it know her name?!_

_Unless –_

"CASSIE! WAKE UP!"

"SAY SOMETHING, CASSIE! C'MON!"

Cassie felt a powerful lurch pull her out like fish on a strong line, jolting her enough to snap open her eyes.

She felt her chest breathing hard and small puffs of air not nearly compatible size escaping her lips. The horror and fear what she had just seen drove the experience of her near-drowning right back to the surface of her mind.

But everything felt back to normal now. The aching in her head, the sting in her side and the pull in her arm . . . She happily welcomed the pain as an anchor back to reality. What happened was a dream. Only a dream.

Her eyes almost didn't work for a second but once they did, she shut her eyes at the distant but strong glow of the firelight to make sure she wasn't blinded. A few tears leaked out of her eyes but she ignored them, focusing instead on the two sets of worried and relieved identical sea green eyes hovering above her.

Tuff, the first Sharkman right over her, was the first to let out an air of relief. "Thank the Maker, you're awake!"

"Hey," Riley, the other Sharkman, grinned happily next to his brother as he squatted at knee-height with his massive word. "You okay? How you feelin'?"

Cassie only shifted a little once before figuring out that Tuff was holding her to him again; one firm yet slender arm was wrapped carefully underneath her shoulders and held her in place while her head was comfortably nestled against Tuff's shoulder. She had to wonder how he got that tea-spicy, papery smell.

Turning a little dark blue at that thought, she gave a small, tired smile and started to get up. "Alright." She accepted both Tuff and Riley's hands when they offered them to her. "A little tired, honestly, but alright." The Luck Brothers were both extremely gentle with handling her as they helped her to her feet. Tuff made sure to keep his arm around her while holding her right hand and Riley took her left and kept another hand on her elbow as they briefly lifted her up and set her down. Cassie had to smile at their chivalry, which was why she didn't berate Tuff when he kept his arm around her a second longer before taking it off. "I'm just glad to still be standing."

"Aren't we all?" Riley added, leaning on his sword-hilt. Cassie noticed the slight breathlessness to his voice. She would've asked what caused it if she didn't catch sight of what was behind him.

Cassie felt her blood run cold again. Once again, she saw something that she wished she hadn't.

The monster that had attacked them only moments before was clearly dead, made obvious from the huge tear that separated its left arm, shoulder and side from the rest of the body. Blood festered and pooled from the wound, staining the grass from where it lay akimbo and its already soiled and messy fur, making the goldenrod/gray color almost appear to be dark brown/black. Cassie felt a shudder ride through her at the glazed, empty eyes that lolled in their sockets.

Cassie's hand flew to her mouth, colliding with Tuff as she took an unconscious step back; making him once again put his hands on her shoulders to steady her. Riley and Tuff looked at each other and back at the corpse in dismay. Inwardly, Riley was happy he had cleaned off the now dead beast's blood off his sword with the other knee-patch on his pants while Cassie was still unconscious. After all, since Cassie looked like she wanted to scream now, he didn't even want to think off her reaction when if he hadn't cleaned Jawbreaker.

She didn't scream though, instead, she kept her hand pressed to her mouth, shut her eyes tightly while muttering something like she was counting backwards from ten, and took a deep breath. Finally, she straightened her shoulders and breathed out shakily, "Sorry, I-I just . . . Forgot what exactly happened for a minute."

"Don't worry about it." Tuff gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before letting her go. "At least you didn't faint again."

Cassie gave him a trembling smile. "Ehm, yeah. I guess that's a plus."

"You deserve another for what you did earlier." Riley added with approval, sheathing Jawbreaker. "You're were pretty great back there, what with swinging that tea-kettle and deep-frying that ugly with your tail; _THAT_ was the awesomest part!"

Tuff simply smiled a little at her as well, saying, "That _was_ rather impressive. How did you learn to think on your feet like that?"

Cassie felt herself darkening a little much to her expense. To try not to show her embarrassment, she simply shrugged and said, "When you travel with a guy like Vince, you have to be ready to improvise regarding your surroundings; for me, its simply grab whatever's hard enough to do damage and use it as any kind of weapon that fits. Although . . ." She spotted the kettle out of the corner of her eye and stepped over to it, picking it up with a frown. "Probably using a tea kettle that was brewing the last of Dr. Marlin's medicine was probably not my _smartest_ decision."

"Speaking of which, how's your side?" Tuff asked. "You took a couple of really bad hits to it; the stitches must have all broken by now."

"I don't think so." Cassie said, her hand going to her side, wincing only a little. "A few of them may've been pulled out of place from when that thing swung me up but I think the only thing I've got to worry about now is if I have any new bruises from where it stepped on me." She looked down at it with a puzzled expression. "What really worries me is that I've should've healed by now. Usually wounds like this just go away after a day and a half. What attacked me the first time must have some sort of magic in its teeth to keep it from healing properly."

"Wait, hold on, that reminds me of what that thing said," Riley pointed out. "You, know, about how you're being this so-called "Master's prize", do you know what it was talking about?"

Cassie couldn't help but give him a frown. "No, remember? I've got a huge hole in my memory."

Riley gave a sheepish frown while scratching the back of his head. "Oh, right . . ."

A thought then came to Cassie. "Wait . . ." Both of them looked at her. ". . . Before I woke up, I was dreaming . . . I was in a forest and I was dressed in my old clothes and I was perfectly fine, no injuries at all. But then . . ." Her tail curled around her ankles, once again bearing electric-like bars while her hand went to her chin in thought. ". . . I saw something that scared me. I was just about to run when something growled out, "How are you still alive?" I turned around and began to scream . . . And . . . _And_ . . . ."

What was it? What did she see? What happened after that? Her headache came back full force as she struggled to answer her own questions.

Much to her great annoyance, she received no response from the inner workings of her head. She groaned lightly. ". . . And that's it. I can't recall anything else."

"Huh," Tuff put a hand to his own chin and rubbed at the scruff of red hair there. "You may be right about that bit of magic in that creature's bite; maybe it's doing something to cloud your memory . . ."

"Well, we're not gonna figure it out just standing here." Riley chirped. "Dr. Marlin has gotta be back in town by now. And Cassie definitely needs some more medicine after that beating she got."

"Riley, I'm fine." Cassie lied. Truth be told, her side was starting to burn again, apparently giving her the impression that someone was trying to mash her with a meat cleaver. The aching muscles in her arm, the small burns on her hand and the throbbing temple above her eye weren't helping much either.

"Really?" Riley crossed his arms at her. "How many injuries are arguing with you right now?"

Cassie didn't bother giving an indignant response. Riley nodded somewhat smugly. "Uh-huh, I thought so. So, here's what we'll do; you head inside our sub and try to relax, get off you feet for a bit. And after Tuff and I take care of _that_," Riley jerked a thumb behind him to indicate the now reeking corpse. "We'll head for town and look for the Old-Timer. It shouldn't take us long to find him and get the medicine." He looked at Tuff. "Plan?"

"Plan." Tuff agreed, albeit somewhat surprised at the utter sensibility of Riley's plan.

Cassie, however, wasn't. "No plan!" She exclaimed, both her ears drawn up and her ripple-patterned tail rising behind her. "You both can't just leave me here! I'm coming too!"

"No, you're not." Tuff said firmly.

Cassie snapped her head towards him. Hurt was evident on her face at his hard words before it was swiftly replaced with anger. "I'm not staying here, Tuff. I can help!"

"Cassie, that monster threw you like a rag-doll." Tuff frowned. "Besides, it's too risky having you in the woods now that it's the nighttime." He pointed to the beginnings of the forest. "People have been _killed_ in those woods only _paces_ in front of us, Cassie; that's why Riley and I nearly gave ourselves heart-attacks trying to get you back here before sunset. We can't risk having another ambush like that. This time we were lucky that thing didn't get the drop on us because of my sixth sense, the next time we may not be."

Cassie shoved aside the part of her that agreed to Tuff's logic. She normally would've listened to it but not now. She barely had a say in anything since she was almost monster chow and, injured or not, she would be damned if she didn't get a word in edgewise before the night was through. "I'm _going_ and you _can't_ stop me –"

She almost jumped when Tuff's hands suddenly went to her shoulders once again. She was getting touched a _lot_ by him, wasn't she?

That question quickly evaporated when Tuff stared right into her eyes, firm yet concerned eyes meeting with startled and stubborn orange. "Cassie, listen." He begun, trying not to let his own worry leak out. "I know you're scared, okay? I know you're frustrated about all this, I am too. But going and getting yourself hurt even more than you are now is not going to solve it. Think, Cassie, if this situation was any different, if _we_ were the ones hurt and we wanted to come with you despite what we thought of the danger in doing so, would _you_ let us go?"

Cassie didn't answer right away. She blinked at him and looked down, drawing her ears down and looking at her tail, now showing springs and coils on the fin. They both knew the answer before she said, ". . . No, I, I wouldn't; that'd be terrible if the both of you were risking your lives like that for me." She looked up at him again. "But aren't you both still doing that now?"

"Yes," Tuff nodded his head only once. "But the difference here is that Riley and I are capable of taking care of ourselves if push comes to shove; right now, you don't have that. We can't be worrying about you if you come with us."

"So you're saying I'm weak." Cassie frowned.

"No." Tuff shook his head this time. There were a million things he had to say in regards to that, but simply settled for, "You're the farthest thing from that. But let's not forget you passed out right after you barbequed that dog. You need all the chances of rest that you can get."

". . . Didn't you promise Dr. Marlin that you would stay with me?" Cassie asked softly, unable to look Tuff in the eyes due to how weak she once again felt.

Tuff hesitated, looking at his brother who couldn't look him in the eyes either. He looked back at Cassie and gave another nod, despite knowing she wouldn't see it. "Yes, we did. We promised the Good Doctor that we would keep you safe. And that's what we intend to do." He took his hands off her shoulders and opened up his satchel that, amazingly, wasn't thrown off during the fight. "The sub's defensible enough on its own though; it's got good, sturdy locks and strong metal doors. You'll be safe inside long enough for us to head to town, find Dr. Marlin and get back before anything else happens." He pulled out her knife and its holster, handing it to her.

Cassie took it quietly, staring at it with distant, shameful eyes. All the anger that she had earlier had burnt itself out and left her with a sort of empty, hollow disappointment within herself. So much for not being useless . . .

Her shoulders were touched yet again, this time by a set of thick arms wrapping themselves carefully around her shoulders. She felt a chin rest ontop of her head and, despite already knowing who it was, she looked up to see Riley giving her a surprisingly soft smile. "Hey, it'll be fine. We'll be back before you know it. Besides, I'm sure you could use a little time to yourself anyway, what with us two shark guys bugging ya every two minutes."

Cassie found herself little surprised at his actions for probably the umpteenth time. He clearly was the kind of person who liked sharing most of his emotions and thoughts through physical touch. That much was obvious what with the kisses on her hand, touches to her face and the small hugs like the one he was giving to her now. Mostly that was just done out of flirting, much to what she quickly found out was Tuff's aggravation, but at this moment, he was giving her comfort. Some solid ground to lean on when it felt like she was starting to go under the surface. Not for anyone else's satisfaction save her own.

She felt at ease, knowing full well of that she barely even knew this man. In a way, this made her think of each time Vince hugged her. They were always so full of energy and were unexpected but made her feel safe and welcomed all the same. In contrast to Tuff's natural scent of teas and books, she made a mental note of Riley's musk mixed of his own additions with motor oil and cologne. A definite boyish smell that she would expect of him . . .

Tuff, however, felt his eyebrow twitch at his brother's clear incapability of understanding "Personal space". Would he never learn? "Riley –"

Riley already knew what his brother was going to say, as expected of the Younger twin brother and immediately begun, "Don't argue with me on this, Tuff," He pointed one finger figuratively at him while still keeping his arms around Cassie. "Cassie is plenty of things, but she's still a lady, and God knows when women need their personal space after dealing with men for so long."

"Says the man who holding on to Cassie like she's a teddy bear." Tuff scowled.

"True." Riley agreed, unintentionally brushing his cheek against Cassie's, much to either her embarrassment or bemusement. "But you get my point."

"I'm not sure, I do." Tuff crossed his arms to avoid just reaching out and smacking his brother on the head.

Cassie, staying quiet throughout this whole discussion, looked down at the dagger in her hand, turning it carefully between her fingers as she mulled over their earlier words.

She was mulling on that and trying to figure out what she was going to do. She couldn't just sit here and do nothing while Tuff and Riley risk their necks for her anymore. Tuff was right when he said they were lucky. Who's to say what might happen the next time around? Sure, they were good fighters, but that didn't mean they were indestructible. If one of them got hurt because of her . . .

This "Master" was after her and was willing to cut down anybody who got in his way. He didn't care who as long as he got to her. To him, their lives were forfeit.

No. She didn't want them hurt. She already lost one friend. In fact, she had already lost Faust because of something like this . . . She would not let Riley and Tuff be lost.

But what could she do that –

In that instant, she came to a decision, one that she hated more than anything. Honestly, it made her want to hate herself . . . But she knew it was right.

". . . . . . You both promise that you won't be gone long, right?" She spoke softly.

Tuff and Riley looked at her, almost unsure as to what she said. Cassie raised her head and spoke a little more clearly, "You both promise me that you'll come straight back here? You won't do anything except finding Dr. Marlin and bringing him back here?"

Tuff gave her an affirmative nod. "Of course we will."

Cassie slipped the dagger into the holster and held it to her chest. She held it like one would a cross, in silent reverence and hopefulness. She nearly wished that she had one then and there.

She cast a one final glance to the ground before looking at the both of them. ". . . Alright. Go. Find Dr. Marlin. I'll be alright."

Tuff was a little taken aback by that answer, but nodded one last time in approval. "Okay. I promise we'll be back."

"You can bet on that!" Riley gave her his trademark toothy grin. "When a Quillotian makes a promise, little lady, he keeps it!"

Cassie smiled. "Just . . . Be careful."

"Naturally – OY!" Riley grunted when Tuff reached out and yanked him away from Cassie by his ear.

"C'mon, we need to get started on burying that corpse; it's amazing that no stray Seagullets have come and started pecking at it yet." Tuff rolled his eyes, tacitly ignoring his brother's growls and lame attempts at snapping his teeth at the hand holding the ear. As he began pulling him along to the completely ignored body, he turned to Cassie one last time. "Go inside the sub, lock the door, and, whatever you do, once we're gone, do _not_ come _out_ until we come back."

If he only knew . . . Cassie bit back that thought and gave a noise of agreement before turning around and heading for the sub entrance.

She was quick to step inside and press the small button combination on the wall panel to make the door shut and lock with a "C-clunk!"

She only hoped that she wouldn't have to keep it that way for long.

After all, once she was sure that Tuff and Riley had gone, she couldn't very well escape the sub by simply smashing one of the windows. That would just be rude.

Her breaking her promise aside, the last thing she wanted was those two mad at her for destroying their property.

Straightening out her vest from where it had been wrinkled, she resolutely turned on her heel and began making her way for the kitchen.

First things first, she needed to find a more suitable weapon. Her dagger wouldn't do the trick anymore and she was certain that the Sharkmen outside didn't have any more spare tea kettles . . .

**~X~**

Dr. Marlin felt himself trip over probably the thirtieth rock and have his face meet with the cold, unforgiving ground at the same time that night.

With a snarl, he jumped back to his feet with the energy of a youth and irately socked the rock away into the forest with the head of his cane.

Stupid rocks! What was with Mother Nature trying to kill him tonight?

He bet anything that this was probably payback for that one time back when he had to relieve his bodily liquid on one of the trees when he was a clueless teen and couldn't find a bathroom in time. That itself wasn't so bad but it wasn't until he met with the angry faces of the chipmunk family living in that same knothole. That was the last time he let Logai talk him into having a drinking contest with her . . .

Mumbling curses under his breath, he continued to hobble on his way through the forest, making no mind of the rapidly growing sore spots on his person like any sane old man would. He was a doctor on a mission. Lives were at stake after all!

Then again . . . He probably would be going along in his pace a lot better if he had taken the Delivery Pandorian's advice and taken a mouse with him for transportation.

Back at Little Oak Town, right after leaving Dr. Oigi's, he made tracks to find the Mail Delivery Station in such speed, he even amazed himself . . . . After almost collapsing at the front desk and asking the startled receptionist to check his pulse and to make sure it didn't go out on him.

Once he got his _second_ wind . . . And his _third_ wind . . . And his _fourth_ wind, he immediately asked for the most recently available Delivery Boy. More than happy to help, and obviously afraid of him suddenly dying on the spot, the receptionist rushed out and practically drug back a Golden Brown-furred Pandorian male with floral patterned wings. He would've asked what the problem was, were it not for the poke of Dr. Marlin's cane.

The expression on the Pandorian's face when Dr. Marlin then stated firmly that he _himself_ wanted to be delivered to Great Maple Town right then and there would've been hilarious if the situation weren't so dire.

After a strong bout of protest and a shaky agreement on the Pandorian's behalf after Dr. Marlin reached up and hooked him by the back of his neck with his cane, bringing him down to eye level and threatening a total and complete body cavity search with all the trimmings on the spot, the Pandorian swiftly but carefully lifted the Old Doctor in his arms and almost launched the both of them out the door.

Which pretty much led to where he was now; Dr. Marlin made sure to remind himself to send that bat a _very_ generous tip once this was all over.

Not that it mattered much, considering the vital information that he had to give to the Luck Boys that rested in the pages of the journal in his coat.

He was stumbling around in the forest in the start of a very long night, possibly filled with wild animals ready to make a meal out of him, catching stray twigs and leaves in his hair each time he fell, mud on his shoes each time he missed a step and fell in a random puddle, and on top of which he was getting more and more edgy by the minute.

But this was what he got for not figuring out all of this sooner.

The monster. The victims. The connection. He slapped a hand over his face. How did not see this earlier?!

Lo-Lo was right. He really was an idiot.

Any other insults he had in mind for himself fell away from his mind when he heard a twig snap.

Dr. Marlin froze in place, a handkerchief pressed against his face to relieve it of some of the dirt and grime that had made its home there. His eyes grew wide and as all mice would, he flickered his eyes everywhere at once. His ears drew up in alarm with his senses, twitching repeatedly as they searched for the source of the sounds.

A silence filled the air. Dr. Marlin breathed in and out as slowly as he could without being too loud. In and out . . . In and out . . . In and out –

_CRACK!_

His head whirled to his left the same time as his ear.

That sound . . . Its maker was close.

_CRaacckkk!_

Very, _extremely_, _uncomfortably_ **_close._**

Should he run? No, he needed to get to the boys. He had to tell them about –

_Rustle!_

"**_YAAAAARRRR!_**"

"_YEAAAGGGHHHH!_"

* * *

**ME: D8 AH! RUN, DR. MARLIN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!**

**'****Till next time!**


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